Britain marked the 20th anniversary of a school massacre a week ago, as survivors and victims' families cling to tighter gun control as a positive legacy as the issue swirls in the United States. The 1996 shooting in the quiet, cathedral town of Dunblane in central Scotland, which left 17 people dead, spurred prime ministers John Major and Tony Blair into introducing some of the world's toughest gun laws. With the question of gun control featuring in the US presidential campaign, some in Dunblane hope the memory of their loved ones will live on through their successful campaign to ban handguns.
On March 13, 1996, Thomas Hamilton, 43, walked into Dunblane Primary School carrying four legally-held handguns. Within four minutes, he had shot dead 16 pupils aged five and six, teacher Gwen Mayor and finally himself. Fifteen others suffered non-fatal injuries. The massacre horrified Britain and by the end of 1997, following a petition backed by the families that garnered more than 700,000 signatures, new laws effectively made private ownership of handguns illegal. Nearly 23,000 firearms and 700,000 rounds of ammunition were handed in during a national amnesty.
One Dunblane survivor was Britain's tennis star Andy Murray. Then aged eight, Murray and his elder brother Jamie, now a champion doubles tennis player -- who both attended the boys' club Hamilton ran -- hid under a desk in the headmaster's office. The world tennis number two says he only has patchy memories of the day itself, and was too young to understand what was happening. He breaks down on the extremely rare occasions he comes anywhere close to speaking about it. However, in the few words he has managed, he has conveyed how proud he is of the town's strong response to the tragedy.
In Dunblane some have spoken about the change in gun laws and feel that their loved ones are best remembered by upholding strong firearms ownership laws. Others hope the anniversary will influence the gun control debate in the United States.
In the United States, gun violence kills around 30,000 people each year but many people vehemently oppose greater firearms control. In 2013/14 in England and Wales, there were 29 fatalities resulting from firearms offences.
