KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Times have changed for retired principal Steve Millsaps. The 30-year plus educator said school shootings have become too common.

"Oh it just breaks your heart and unfortunately it's becoming such a frequent occurrence I think that begins to numb you a little bit ... I grew up in a period of time where I took my shotgun to school. We took them and put it in the basketball coaches office, and after school he took several of us dove hunting. It's just a different time," said Millsaps.

Millsaps spent more than 30 years as an educator in Loudon County, many of his years as a principal. He said in all his years teaching, a gun was brought to school by a student twice and that it was the students who reported it.

Millsaps said it's time for students and teachers to pay attention to warning signs of potential school shooters and to not be afraid to do something.

"Watch for the signs and I think they do, but too many times we don't really pay close enough attention to the signs. I would tell parents know what your child is doing in their bedroom, what are they doing on the computer ... Anymore there's almost always something posted on social media that could get someone's attention, like boy something is a little bit different right here," said Millsaps.