Mass shootings at the nation’s schools would be preventable if districts adopted the same safety mindset long used against fires, retired U.S. Army Ranger and former West Point psychology professor Lt. Col. Dave Grossman told Newsmax on Thursday, one day after a gunman opened fire at a Minneapolis Catholic church where children were gathered for a first-day-of-school Mass.

“It definitely could have been prevented,” Grossman told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.” “But we need to understand that not a single child has been killed by a school fire in over 70 years. Half the cost of the building goes into [meeting] the fire code. Just like we have fire sprinklers and fire extinguishers, we need the tools to defeat violence in our schools.”

Gun violence could also be reduced in schools if leaders invested in protective measures and empowered their staff, Grossman added.

Read more at Newsmax© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.