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{{short description|Mass shooting in Dunblane, Scotland}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox civilian attack {{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Dunblane massacre | title = Dunblane massacre
| image = | image = File:Dunblane_Primary_13_March_1996A.jpg
| caption = | alt =
| image_upright = 0.9
| location = ], ], ]
| caption = Gwen Mayor and her pupils, 1996
| target = Students and faculty at Dunblane Primary School
| date = 13 March 1996 | location = ], ], Scotland
| coordinates = {{coord|56.1890|-3.9743|format=dms|type:event|display=inline,title}}
| time =
| target = Pupils and staff at ]
| timezone = ]
| date = {{start date|13 March 1996}}
| type = ], ], ]
| time = {{circa}} 9:35 – 9:40 a.m.
| fatalities = 18 (including the perpetrator)
| timezone = ]
| injuries = 15<ref name="cullen_report">{{cite book|author=The Hon Lord Cullen|authorlink=William Cullen, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk|title=The Public Inquiry into the Shootings at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996 |url=http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/scottish/dunblane/dunblane.htm |accessdate=2008-05-31 |date=1996-09-30|publisher=]|location=London|isbn=0-10-133862-7|oclc=60187397}}</ref>
| type = ], ], ], ], ]
| perps = Thomas Hamilton
| fatalities = 18 (including the perpetrator)<ref name="Mass shootings and gun control" />
| injuries = 15
| perp = Thomas Hamilton
| weapons = * ] ] pistol (x2)
* ] ] revolver (x2)
| motive =
}} }}
The '''Dunblane massacre''' took place at ] in ], near ], Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton killed 16 pupils and one teacher and injured 15 others before killing himself. It remains the deadliest ] in British history.<ref name="Mass shootings and gun control">{{cite news |date=2 June 2010 |title=Mass shootings and gun control |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10216955 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401062816/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10216955 |archive-date=1 April 2018 |access-date=12 March 2017 |work=BBC News |quote="The deaths led to a nationwide campaign for even greater gun controls. The campaign succeeded in making it illegal to buy or possess a handgun, something which had been excluded from the legislation passed after Hungerford."}}</ref>


Following the killings, public debate centred on ] laws, including public petitions for a ban on private ownership of handguns and an official inquiry, which produced the 1996 ].<ref name="Cullen Report">{{cite web|website=gov.uk|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-inquiry-into-the-shootings-at-dunblane-primary-school|title=Public inquiry into the shootings at Dunblane Primary School|publisher=]|date=16 October 1996|access-date=9 March 2017|archive-date=22 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322161300/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-inquiry-into-the-shootings-at-dunblane-primary-school|url-status=live}}</ref>
The '''Dunblane massacre''' was a multiple ] which occurred at '''Dunblane Primary School''' in the ] town of ] on 13 March 1996. Sixteen children and one adult were killed, in addition to the attacker, Thomas Watt Hamilton, who committed ]. It remains the deadliest single targeted mass homicide on children in the ].


The incident led to a public campaign, known as the Snowdrop Petition, which helped bring about legislation, specifically two new Firearms Acts, which prohibited the private ownership of most handguns in ].<ref name="Mass shootings and gun control"/> The UK Government instituted a buyback programme which provided compensation to licensed owners.
==Course of events==
On 13 March 1996, unemployed former shopkeeper and former ] leader Thomas Watt Hamilton (born Thomas Watt 10 May 1952) walked into the school armed with two ] ] ]s and two ] ] ]s. He was carrying 743 ], and fired 109 times. The subsequent police investigation revealed that Hamilton had loaded the magazines for his Browning with an alternating combination of ] and ] ammunition.


== Shooting ==
After gaining entry to the school, Hamilton made his way to the gymnasium and opened fire on a class of five- and six-year-olds, killing or wounding all but one person. Fifteen children and a teacher, Gwen Mayor, died at the scene. Hamilton then left the gymnasium through the emergency exit. In the playground outside he fired a number of shots into a mobile classroom. A teacher in the mobile classroom had previously realised that something was wrong and told the children to hide under the tables. Most of the bullets became embedded in books and equipment, though "one passed through a chair which seconds before had been used by a child."<ref name="cullen_report"/> He also fired at a group of children walking in a corridor, injuring one teacher. Hamilton went back into the gym and fired one shot with one of his two revolvers pointing upwards into his mouth, killing himself instantly. A further eleven children and three adults were rushed to the hospital as soon as the emergency services arrived; one of these children was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
{| style="float:right; clear:right; margin:1em; width:18em; border:1px solid #a0a0a0; padding:4px; background:#f5f5f5; text-align:left; font-size:85%"
|- style="text-align:left; font-size:medium;"
|'''Deaths'''<ref name="h2g2_Dunblane">, BBC. ]. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2012.</ref>
|-
| {{Plainlist|1=
* Victoria Elizabeth Clydesdale (age 5)
* Emma Elizabeth Crozier (age 5)
* Melissa Helen Currie (age 5)
* Charlotte Louise Dunn (age 5)
* Kevin Allan Hasell (age 5)
* Ross William Irvine (age 5)
* David Charles Kerr (age 5)
* Mhairi Isabel MacBeath (age 5)
* Gwen Mayor (age 45) (teacher)
* Brett McKinnon (age 6)
* Abigail Joanne McLennan (age 5)
* Emily Morton (age 5)
* Sophie Jane Lockwood North (age 5)
* John Petrie (age 5)
* Joanna Caroline Ross (age 5)
* Hannah Louise Scott (age 5)
* Megan Turner (age 5)
* {{nowrap|Thomas Hamilton (age 43) (perpetrator)}}
}}
|}
At about 8:15&nbsp;a.m. on 13 March 1996, Thomas Hamilton, aged 43, was seen scraping ice off his van outside his home at Kent Road in Stirling.<ref name="Cullen_Report"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310081829/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/276631/3386.pdf |date=10 March 2016 }}, 16 October 1996. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref> He left soon afterwards and drove about {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} north<ref name="Distance_Stirling_Dunblane"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318223416/http://www.distance.to/Stirling/Dunblane |date=18 March 2014 }}, ''distance.to''. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref> to Dunblane. Hamilton arrived on the grounds of Dunblane Primary School at around 9:30&nbsp;a.m. and parked his van near a telegraph pole in the car park of the school. He cut the telephone cables at the bottom of the telegraph pole which served nearby houses, before making his way across the car park towards the school buildings.<ref name="Cullen_Report" />


Hamilton headed towards the north-west side of the school to a door near the toilets and the school gymnasium. After entering, he made his way to the gymnasium armed with four legally-held handguns<ref name="Washington_Post"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107001331/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR2007042301794.html |date=7 November 2012 }}, ''The Washington Post''. '']''. 24 April 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2012.</ref>—two ] ] ]s and two ] ] ]s.<ref name="Cullen_Report" /> Hamilton was also carrying 743 ammunition ].<ref name="Mass shootings and gun control" /> In the gym was a class of 28 ] pupils preparing for a ] lesson in the presence of three adult members of staff.<ref name="Transcript_Public_Enquiry"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140918104221/http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2001/01/7951/File-1 |date=18 September 2014 }}, scotland.gov.uk. 18 October 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref>
==List of those killed ==
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: ] -->
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-2}}
*Victoria Elizabeth Clydesdale
*Emma Elizabeth Crozier
*Melissa Helen Currie
*Charlotte Louise Dunn
*Kevin Allan Hasell
*Ross William Irvine
*David Charles Kerr
*Mhairi Isabel MacBeath
*Brett McKinnon
{{col-2}}
*Abigail Joanne McLennan
*Gwen Mayor ''(schoolteacher)''
*Emily Morton
*Sophie Jane Lockwood North
*John Petrie
*Joanna Caroline Ross
*Hannah Louise Scott
*Megan Turner
{{col-end}}


Before entering the gymnasium, it is believed Hamilton fired two shots into the stage of the assembly hall and the girls' toilet.<ref name="Cullen_Report"/>
A memorial service conducted by ], the former ], was held on 9 October 1996.


Hamilton started shooting rapidly and randomly. He shot P.E. teacher Eileen Harrild who was injured in her arms and chest as she attempted to protect herself and continued shooting into the gym.<ref name="Cullen_Report"/><ref name="Transcript_Public_Enquiry"/> Harrild stumbled into the open-plan store cupboard at the side of the gym along with several injured children. Gwen Mayor, the teacher of the Primary 1 class, was shot and killed instantly. The other adult present, Mary Blake, a supervisory assistant, was shot in the head and both legs but also managed to make her way to the store cupboard with several of the children in front of her.<ref name="Cullen_Report"/>
==The aftermath==
]


From entering the gymnasium and walking a few steps, Hamilton fired 29 shots with one of the pistols, killed one child, and injured several others. Four injured children had taken shelter in the store cupboard along with the injured Harrild and Blake. Hamilton then moved up the east side of the gym, firing six shots as he walked, and then fired eight shots towards the opposite end of the gym. He then went towards the centre of the gym, firing 16 shots at ] at a group of children who had been incapacitated by his earlier shots.<ref name="Cullen_Report"/>
Hamilton's exact motives remain unknown, though it is a matter of record that there were complaints to police regarding his suspicious behaviour towards the young boys who attended the youth clubs that he ran. There were suspicions prior to the massacre that Hamilton's interest in boys was ], with more than one complaint being made regarding him having taken photographs of semi-naked boys without the parents' consent. He claimed in letters that rumours about him led to the collapse of his shop business in 1993, and in the last months of his life he complained again that his attempts to set up a boys' club were subject to persecution by the police and the scout movement. Among those to whom he complained were local ] ] and the ]. In the 1980s, another MP, ], who lived in Dunblane, had complained to Forsyth about Hamilton's local boys' club, which his son had attended. On the day following the massacre, George Robertson spoke of having argued with Hamilton "in my own home".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960314/debtext/60314-05.htm
|title=Hansard|date=1996-03-14|accessdate=2007-04-16}}</ref> There has been unfounded speculation about the relationship between Hamilton and Robertson, and the latter launched a landmark 'e-]' action against the '']'' in 2003 after comments made on the newspaper's message board. He won an apology and damages. On 19 March 1996, just six days after the incident, the body of Thomas Hamilton was cremated in private.<ref>{{cite news |title=Five small coffins laid to rest in Dunblane |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960320/ai_n14036923 |work=] |publisher=Newspaper Publishing PLC |location=London |date=1996-03-20 |accessdate=2008-06-05|quote=Thomas Hamilton was cremated in secret yesterday far away from the city where he committed mass murder. }}</ref> The gym where the massacre took place was demolished on 11 April 1996, and within two years the whole school was rebuilt.


A Primary 7 pupil who was walking along the west side of the gymnasium exterior at the time heard loud bangs and screams and looked inside. Hamilton shot in his direction and the pupil was injured by flying glass before running away. From this position, Hamilton fired 24 shots in various directions. He fired shots towards a window next to the fire exit at the southeast end of the gym, possibly at an adult who was walking across the playground, and then fired four more shots in the same direction after opening the fire exit door. Hamilton then exited the gym briefly through the fire exit, firing another four shots towards the cloakroom of the library, striking and injuring Grace Tweddle, another member of staff at the school.<ref name="Cullen_Report"/>
===Cultural impact===
The ] concluded in 1996 that a ban on handguns would be "panic legislation" and would do little to prevent a repeat of the Dunblane incident. It also said that rules governing gun ownership must be changed to prevent people such as Thomas Hamilton from owning weapons.<ref></ref>


In the ] closest to the fire exit where Hamilton was standing, Catherine Gordon saw him firing shots and instructed her Primary 7 class to get down onto the floor before Hamilton fired nine bullets into the classroom, striking books and equipment. One bullet passed through a chair where a child had been sitting seconds before. Hamilton then re-entered the gym, dropped the pistol he was using, and took out one of the two revolvers.
The ] recommended tighter control of handgun ownership as well as other changes in school security and vetting of people working with children under 18.<ref name="cullen_report"/> However because the ] also involved a legal gun owner killing with his legally-held guns, public feeling had turned against private gun ownership, allowing a much more restrictive ban on handguns to pass.


He put the barrel of the gun in his mouth, pointed it upwards, and pulled the trigger, killing himself. A total of 32 people sustained gunshot wounds inflicted by Hamilton over a 3–4 minute period, 16 of whom were fatally wounded in the gymnasium, including Gwen Mayor and 15 of her pupils. One other child died en route to hospital.<ref name="Cullen_Report" />
Security in schools, particularly primary schools, was improved in response to the Dunblane massacre and two other tragedies which occurred at around the same time - the murder of ] headmaster ] and the wounding of six toddlers and ], a nursery nurse at a ] nursery school.


The first call to the police was made at 9:41&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="Transcript_Public_Enquiry" /> by the ] of the school Ronald Taylor, who had been alerted by assistant headmistress Agnes Awlson to the possibility of a gunman on the school premises. Awlson had told Taylor that she had heard screaming inside the gymnasium and had seen what she thought to be cartridges on the ground, and Taylor had been aware of loud noises which he assumed to have been from builders on site that he had not been informed of. As he was on his way to the gym, the shooting ended and when he saw what had happened he ran back to his office and told deputy headmistress Fiona Eadington to call for ambulances, a call which was made at 9:43&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="STV">{{cite news|last1=Barrie|first1=Douglas|title=Dunblane massacre: Timeline of school shooting that shocked a nation|url=https://stv.tv/news/stirling-central/1345003-dunblane-massacre-timeline-of-school-shooting-that-shocked-a-nation/|access-date=12 March 2017|publisher=STV News|date=11 March 2016|ref=STV|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224180859/https://news.stv.tv/stirling-central/1345003-dunblane-massacre-timeline-of-school-shooting-that-shocked-a-nation/|url-status=live}}</ref>
A month later, ] killed 35 people in the ] in ], ]. The chief defence psychiatrist in the case has revealed that the Dunblane massacre, and in particular the early treatment of Thomas Hamilton, was the trigger in Bryant's mind for the Port Arthur massacre.<ref></ref>


The first ambulance arrived on the scene at 9:57&nbsp;a.m. in response to the call made at 9:43&nbsp;a.m. Another medical team from Dunblane Health Centre arrived at 10:04&nbsp;a.m. which included doctors and a nurse, who were involved in the initial ] of the injured. Medical teams from the health centres in ] and ] arrived shortly after. The accident and emergency department at ] had also been informed of a major incident involving multiple casualties at 9:48&nbsp;a.m. and the first of several medical teams from the hospital arrived at 10:15&nbsp;a.m. Another medical team from the ] and District Royal Infirmary arrived at 10:35&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="STV"/>
====Music====
With the consent of ], a Dunblane musician named Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for "]" in memory of the Dunblane school children and their teacher. The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims ] the chorus and ] on ], was released on 9 December 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.


By about 11:10&nbsp;a.m., all of the injured had been taken to Stirling Royal Infirmary for medical treatment.<ref name="Transcript_Public_Enquiry" /> Upon examination, several of the patients were transferred to the District Royal Infirmary in Falkirk and some to the ] in ].<ref name="Guardian_archive_Dunblane"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420045832/https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/mar/14/dunblane-massacre-scotland-killing |date=20 April 2022 }}, ''The Guardian''. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref>
] have a song on their self-titled album about the Dunblane massacre. It is called "Monday". The band's Chris Cheney said, "It was such a senseless act. I just felt compelled to write a song about it." Also, the UK band ] got their name from one of their earliest songs, inspired by the Dunblane shootings.


The shooter fired 106 shots in total during the massacre, including the suicide shot. 105 were fired by one of his Browning pistols, and the final shot was fired with one of his Smith & Wesson revolvers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-03-10 |title=Remembering the Dunblane school massacre 20 years on |url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/dunblane-massacre-remembering-the-school-shooting-20-years-later-a6923756.html |access-date=2024-10-10 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>
On their 1997 album ''Quintessentials'', English punk band ] feature a song simply titled "Dunblane". Lead singer Charlie Harper laments in the chorus: "After Dunblane, how can you hold a gun and say you're innocent?"


== Perpetrator ==
] ] of ] also composed a ] for the ] in memoriam of the event, entitled "The Bells of Dunblane".
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Thomas Hamilton
| birth_name = Thomas Watt
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1952|05|10}}<ref name=lifedeath>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-life-and-death-of-thomas-watt-hamilton-1672323.html|title=The life and death of Thomas Watt Hamilton |work=]|date=17 March 1996 |access-date=9 August 2018}}</ref>
| birth_place = ], Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1996|3|13|1952|05|10}}
| death_place = ], ], Scotland
| occupation = Former shopkeeper
| death_cause = ] by ]
| marital_status =
| children =
| fatalities = 18 (including himself)
| injuries = 15
| weapons = Two ] ] pistols, two ] ] revolvers
| conviction_status = Deceased
}}
'''Thomas Watt Hamilton''' was born as Thomas Watt Jr. on 10 May 1952 in ], the son of Thomas Watt Sr., a bus driver, and Agnes Graham Hamilton, a hotel chambermaid. When Hamilton was 18 months old, his father abandoned the family for another woman, after which his parents divorced and his father had no contact with him thereafter. Thomas' maternal grandparents, James and Catherine Hamilton raised Thomas as their son, legally adopting him and changing his name to Thomas Watt Hamilton. The family relocated to ] when Hamilton was a young boy. He was made to believe that his maternal grandparents were his actual parents, and that his mother was his older sister. Hamilton's grandparents told Thomas the truth when he was around 22 years old, which reportedly had a lasting psychological impact on him. He began working in youth organizations. As the head of several youth clubs, Hamilton had been the subject of several complaints to police regarding inappropriate behaviour towards young boys, including claims that he had taken photographs of semi-naked boys without parental consent.<ref name=lifedeath/><ref>Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 4, paras. 12–15</ref> He had briefly been a ] leader – in July 1973 at age 21, he had been appointed assistant leader with the 4th/6th Stirling troop of the ]. Later that year, he was seconded as leader to the 24th ] troop, which was being revived. Several complaints were made about Hamilton's leadership, including complaints about Scouts being forced to sleep in close proximity with him inside his van during hill-walking expeditions. Within months, on 13 May 1974, Hamilton's Scout Warrant was withdrawn, with the County Commissioner stating that he was "suspicious of his moral intentions towards boys". He was ]ed by the Association and thwarted in a later attempt he made to become a Scout leader in ].<ref>Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 4</ref>


Hamilton claimed in letters that local rumours regarding his behaviour towards young boys had led to the failure of his business in 1993, and that, in the last months of his life, he had complained that his attempts to organise a boys' club were subjected to persecution by local police and the scout movement.<ref name=lifedeath/> Among those he complained to were Queen ] and his local ] (MP), ] (]).<ref name=lifedeath/> In the 1980s, another MP, ] (]), who lived in Dunblane, had complained to Forsyth about Hamilton's local boys' club, which his son had attended. On the day after the massacre, Robertson spoke of having previously argued with Hamilton "in my own home".<ref name=lifedeath/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960314/debtext/60314-05.htm|title=Dunblane Primary School (Shooting)|work=]|date=14 March 1996|access-date=16 April 2007|archive-date=9 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209061903/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960314/debtext/60314-05.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Officials Ignored Repeated Warnings about Dunblane Killer, Files Reveal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/oct/04/ukcrime.ukguns|work=]|access-date=23 December 2020|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112014945/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/oct/04/ukcrime.ukguns|url-status=live}}</ref>
] wrote a tribute piece, "A Child's Prayer", using the words "remembered by the composer from childhood". It was first performed in ] in July 1996 and recorded on the album 'ikon' by ], conducted by Harry Christophers, in 2005.


On 19 March 1996, six days after the massacre, Hamilton's body was ]. According to a police spokesman, this service was conducted "far away from Dunblane".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Five small coffins laid to rest in Dunblane |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/five-small-coffins-laid-to-rest-in-dunblane-1342948.html |work=The Independent |location=London |publisher=Newspaper Publishing PLC |date=20 March 1996 |access-date=6 March 2016 |quote=Thomas Hamilton was cremated in secret yesterday far away from the city where he committed mass murder. |archive-date=12 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312055221/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/five-small-coffins-laid-to-rest-in-dunblane-1342948.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
] (Cat Stevens) sang "The Little Ones" at the Voices for Darfur gala performance at the ], ], in December 2004, a song which he said he wrote for the children of Dunblane and Bosnia.


== Subsequent legislation ==
], a Scotsman who has lived for many years in Australia, wrote and recorded "One Small Star" in tribute.


The ]s, the result of the inquiry into the Dunblane massacre, recommended that the ] introduce ]<ref>Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 8, paras. 9–119</ref> and consider whether an outright ban on private ownership would be in the public interest in the alternative (though club ownership would be maintained).<ref>Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 9, para. 113</ref> The report also recommended changes in school security<ref>Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 10, para. 19,26</ref> and vetting of people working with children under 18.<ref>Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 11, paras. 21, 29–39 and 47</ref> The ] agreed with the need for restrictions on gun ownership but stated that a handgun ban was not appropriate.
The ] band ] released a song titled The Angels of Dunblane on their album, When Odin Calls.


An advocacy group, the six-member Gun Control Network, was founded in the aftermath of the massacre and was supported by some parents of the victims of the Dunblane and ]s shootings.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gun Control Network, 'About Us'|url=http://www.gun-control-network.org/GCN03.htm|access-date=6 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306212638/http://www.gun-control-network.org/GCN03.htm|archive-date=6 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Bereaved families and others also campaigned for a ban on private gun ownership.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/12238 |title=Snowdrop Petition EDM (Early Day Motion) 1088: tabled on 02 July 1996 |access-date=13 March 2021 |work=edm.parliament.uk |date=2 July 1996 |archive-date=5 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205113716/https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/12238 |url-status=live }}</ref>
====Books====
Two books - ''Dunblane: Our Year of Tears'' by Peter Samson and Alan Crow (Mainstream, 1996) and ''Dunblane: Never Forget'' by Mick North (Mainstream, 2000) - both give accounts of the massacre from the perspective of those most directly affected. Another book, ''Dunblane Unburied'' by Sandra Uttley (Book Publishing World 2006), whose publication was funded by a shooters' organisation, the ],<ref name="D-UB">{{cite web|url=http://www.gunculture.net/index.php/weblog/dunblane_unburied/|title=Dunblane Unburied|accessdate=2007-02-23|date=2006-03-14|language=English}}</ref> examines Hamilton's relationship with members of ] and presents a disturbing alternative account to the events leading up to the massacre. Uttley alleges a major high-level cover-up and calls for a new Public Inquiry to establish the truth.


In response to public debate, the Conservative government of ] ] introduced the ] which banned all cartridge ammunition handguns with the exception of ] rimfire in England, Scotland, and Wales. Following the ], the ] government of Prime Minister ] introduced the ], banning the remaining .22 cartridge handguns as well.<ref>{{cite news|title=Britain's changing firearms laws|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7056245.stm|access-date=12 March 2017|work=BBC News|date=12 November 2007|archive-date=16 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216215036/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7056245.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> This left only ] and historic handguns legal as well as certain sporting handguns (e.g. "Long-Arms") and long-barrelled handguns that fall outside the minimum barrel and overall length dimensions in the ], as amended.
====Television====
On the Sunday following the shootings the morning service from Dunblane Cathedral, conducted by Rev. Colin MacIntosh, was broadcast live by the BBC. The BBC also had live transmission of the Memorial Service on 9 October 1996, also held at Dunblane Cathedral.


This handgun ban did not apply to Northern Ireland,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=2863335 |title=The Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 (Commencement) Order 1997 (No. 3114 (c.116)) |date=1997-12-17 |access-date=2008-05-28 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109204526/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/3114/contents/made |url-status=live }}</ref> where it remains legal for citizens to own handguns for target shooting (if they hold a firearms licence) and, for self-defence, if the owner holds a ] permit, almost 3000 of which were on issue as of 2012.<ref>{{cite web|website=theguardian.com|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/aug/23/arms-licence-northern-ireland|title=Northern Ireland's firearms licence holders: the full list|publisher=]|date=23 August 2012|access-date=29 September 2022|archive-date=27 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327175409/https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/aug/23/arms-licence-northern-ireland|url-status=live}}</ref>
A repeat of '']'', an episode of the popular sci-fi sitcom '']'', was due to be broadcast on BBC2 on the very evening of the massacre. It was suspended because it contains a scene similar to Dunblane: a crazy woman android threatening to kill herself and the Red Dwarf crew.


Evidence of previous police interaction with Hamilton was presented to the Cullen Inquiry but was later sealed under a closure order to prevent publication for 100 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Call to lift secrecy on Dunblane murderer |first=Tom |last=Peterkin |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1421581/Call-to-lift-secrecy-on-Dunblane-murderer.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1421581/Call-to-lift-secrecy-on-Dunblane-murderer.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=] |date=10 February 2003 |access-date=7 October 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The official reason for sealing the documents was to protect the identities of children, but this led to accusations of a coverup intended to protect the reputations of officials.<ref>{{cite news |title=Call to lift veil of secrecy over Dunblane |first=Gerard |last=Seenan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/feb/14/ukguns.scotland |newspaper=] |publisher=] |date=14 February 2003 |access-date=7 October 2012 |archive-date=26 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826221324/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/feb/14/ukguns.scotland |url-status=live }}</ref> Following a review of the closure order by the ], ], edited versions of some of the documents were released to the public in October 2005. Four files containing ], medical records and profiles on the victims, as well as Hamilton's post-mortem, remained sealed under the 100-year order to avoid distressing the relatives and survivors.<ref>{{cite news |title=Order lifted on Dunblane papers |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4290938.stm |work=] |date=28 September 2005 |access-date=7 October 2012 |archive-date=11 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111181822/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4290938.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
A documentary 'Dunblane: Remembering our Children' (produced by Chameleon Television), which featured many of the parents of the children who had been killed, was broadcast by ITV at the time of the first anniversary.


The released documents revealed that in 1991, complaints against Hamilton were made to the ] and were investigated by the ] Unit. He was reported to the ] for consideration of ten charges, including ], obstructing police and contravention of the Children and Young Persons Act 1937. Reports from serving police officers stated that he was unsuitable to own firearms; no action was taken.<ref name="UNBURIED">Uttley (2006), p. 209</ref>
At the time of the Tenth Anniversary in March 2006 two documentaries were broadcast. Channel 5 screened 'Dunblane - a decade on' (made by Hanrahan Media) and BBC Scotland showed 'Remembering Dunblane' (made by iwcmedia).


== Media coverage ==
Episode 1,954 of ]n ] '']'', in which the estranged father of a Year 7 student of Summer Bay High brought a rifle into the school and held headmaster Donald Fisher hostage all afternoon and overnight (throughout the episode), was not shown at all in the UK. References to the siege in other episodes were edited out by ], the then UK broadcaster of the show.
Two books – ''Dunblane: Our Year of Tears'' by Peter Samson<ref>{{cite web|title=Dunblane: Our Year of Tears|url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7127568-dunblane-our-year-of-tears|website=Goodreads|access-date=12 March 2017|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313130009/http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7127568-dunblane-our-year-of-tears|url-status=live}}</ref> and Alan Crow and ''Dunblane: Never Forget'' by Mick North<ref>{{cite web|title=Dunblane: Never Forget|url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/373581.Dunblane_Never_Forget|website=Goodreads|access-date=12 March 2017|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313131021/http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/373581.Dunblane_Never_Forget|url-status=live}}</ref> – both give accounts of the massacre from the perspective of those most directly affected. In 2009, the '']'' was criticised for an inappropriate ] about the survivors of the massacre, thirteen years after the event.<ref>{{cite news| title = PCC targets Sunday Express over Dunblane allegations| author = Oliver Luft| newspaper = The Guardian| date = 2009-03-16| url = https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/16/pcc-targets-sunday-express-over-dunblane-claims| access-date = 2017-03-12| archive-date = 13 March 2017| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170313125900/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/mar/16/pcc-targets-sunday-express-over-dunblane-claims| url-status = live}}</ref>


On the Sunday following the shootings the morning service from ], conducted by Colin MacIntosh, was broadcast live by the ]. The BBC also transmitted the 9 October 1996 memorial service live from Dunblane Cathedral. A documentary series, ''Crimes That Shook Britain'', discussed the massacre.<ref>{{cite web|title=Crimes that Shook Britain|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/cqgc2/crimes-that-shook-britain--series-2---1-the-dunblane-massacre|website=Radio Times|access-date=12 March 2017|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313214035/http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/cqgc2/crimes-that-shook-britain--series-2---1-the-dunblane-massacre|url-status=live}}</ref> The documentary ''Dunblane: Remembering our Children'', which featured many of the parents of the children who had been killed, was broadcast by ] and ] at the time of the first anniversary.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sutcliffe|first1=Thomas|title=TV Review of Dunblane: Remembering Our Children|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv-reviews-of-dunblane-remembering-our-children-and-modern-times-1272653.html|access-date=12 March 2017|newspaper=The Independent|date=13 March 1997|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313213606/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv-reviews-of-dunblane-remembering-our-children-and-modern-times-1272653.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''In Cold Blood'', a 1997 documentary exploring the psychology behind mass killings, examined the men behind the mass shootings in Dunblane, ] and ] — and found common traits in the three murderers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Screen |first=NZ On |title=Bryan Bruce {{!}} NZ On Screen |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/bryan-bruce/biography |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=www.nzonscreen.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=IN COLD BLOOD |url=https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F35513/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=www.ngataonga.org.nz |language=en-NZ}}</ref> At the time of the tenth anniversary in March 2006 two documentaries were broadcast: ] screened ''Dunblane&nbsp;— A Decade On''<ref>{{cite web|title=Dunblane - A decade on|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8ba5ad9c|website=bfi.org|access-date=12 March 2017|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313133125/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8ba5ad9c|url-status=dead}}</ref> and ] showed ''Remembering Dunblane''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Remembering Dunblane, 20 years on|url=http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14323613.Remembering_Dunblane__20_years_on/?ref=mr&lp=40|access-date=12 March 2017|newspaper=Evening Times|date=5 March 2016|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313131819/http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14323613.Remembering_Dunblane__20_years_on/?ref=mr&lp=40|url-status=live}}</ref> On 9 March 2016 relatives of the victims spoke in a BBC Scotland documentary entitled ''Dunblane: Our Story'' to mark the twentieth anniversary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072ww59|title=Dunblane: Our Story|work=]|date=9 March 2016|access-date=18 October 2019|archive-date=13 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613144714/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072ww59|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2018 ] ], '']'', directed by ], drew comparison with the ] in the US by exploring the grief and friendship between the two priests serving the affected communities at the times of the respective shootings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/notes-from-dunblane-lessons-from-a-school-shooting-netflix-review/|title='Notes From Dunblane: Lessons From a School Shooting' is a powerful, distressing watch|date=July 9, 2019|website=The Daily Dot|access-date=10 April 2020|archive-date=11 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811222530/https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/notes-from-dunblane-lessons-from-a-school-shooting-netflix-review/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://decider.com/2018/10/01/lessons-from-a-school-shooting-on-netflix-stream-it-or-skip-it/|title=Stream It Or Skip It: 'Lessons from a School Shooting' on Netflix, a Somber Documentary About Two School Shootings|date=July 9, 2019|website=Decider|access-date=10 April 2020|archive-date=25 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025234123/https://decider.com/2018/10/01/lessons-from-a-school-shooting-on-netflix-stream-it-or-skip-it/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.netflix.com/title/81001809|title=Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane {{!}} Netflix Official Site|website=www.netflix.com|language=en|access-date=2020-04-10|archive-date=9 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709021540/https://www.netflix.com/title/81001809|url-status=live}}</ref> On 11 March 2021, ] aired a special documentary to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary: ''Return to Dunblane with ]'' in which the presenter revisited the town, speaking with the victims' families and emergency aid workers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.itv.com/hub/return-to-dunblane-with-lorraine-kelly/10a0668a0001|title=Return to Dunblane with Lorraine Kelly|work=]|date=11 March 2021|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=12 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210312093852/https://www.itv.com/hub/return-to-dunblane-with-lorraine-kelly/10a0668a0001|url-status=dead}}</ref>
====Flowers====
At least three flowers have been named after victims of the shootings. Two ]s, developed by Cockers of Aberdeen, were named "Gwen Mayor" and "Innocence" in memory of the teacher and the children. A variety of ], discovered ten years earlier in the garden of a house close to Dunblane Primary School, has been named after Sophie North.


====Memorials==== == Memorials and tributes ==
]]]
Dunblane Primary School gymnasium was demolished shortly afterwards and replaced by a small garden: a simple plaque bears the names of the victims.


Two days after the shooting, a ] and prayer session was held at Dunblane Cathedral which was attended by people of all faiths. On ], on 17 March, Queen Elizabeth II and her daughter ], attended a memorial service at Dunblane Cathedral.
A Memorial Garden was created at the town's cemetery, where most of those who were killed are buried. The central feature of the Garden is a fountain designed by ]. The Garden was dedicated at a ceremony on 14 March 1998.


Seven months after the massacre, in October 1996, the families of the victims organised their own memorial service at Dunblane Cathedral, which more than 600 people attended, including ]. The service was broadcast live on ] and conducted by ], a former ].<ref name="Herald_service"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412164512/http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/dunblane-victims-to-be-honoured-prince-will-attend-memorial-service-1.432608 |date=12 April 2014 }}. '']''. 7 October 1996. Retrieved 18 March 2014.</ref> Television presenter ], who had befriended some of the victims' families whilst reporting on the massacre for '']'', was a guest speaker at the service.
Stained glass windows in memory of the victims were placed in three local churches, St Blane's and the Church of the Holy Family in Dunblane and the nearby ] Kirk. A Clashach standing stone was later erected in Dunblane Cathedral.
In August 1997, two varieties of ] were unveiled and planted as the centrepiece for a roundabout in Dunblane.<ref name="Roses_Independent"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315034438/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/roses-named-for-dunblane-dead-1246309.html |date=15 March 2016 }}, ''The Independent''. 20 August 1997. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref> The two roses were developed by Cockers Roses of ];<ref name="Roses_DailyRecord"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319025733/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Flower+power+for+Dunblane+tribute.-a061003202 |date=19 March 2014 }}, '']''. 20 August 1997. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref> the 'Gwen Mayor'<ref name="GMayor_Rose_Cockers"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319013132/http://www.roses.uk.com/rose.cfm?roseid=125 |date=19 March 2014 }}, roses.co.uk. Cockers Roses of Aberdeen. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref> rose and 'Innocence'<ref name="Innocence_Rose_Cockers"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319025355/http://www.roses.uk.com/rose.cfm?roseid=141 |date=19 March 2014 }}, roses.co.uk. Cockers Roses of Aberdeen. Retrieved 14 March 2014.</ref> rose, in memory of the children killed. A ] ], originally found in a Dunblane garden in the 1970s, was renamed 'Sophie North' in memory of one of the victims of the massacre.<ref name="Herald_snowdrop"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412164502/http://www.heraldscotland.com/life-style/real-lives/scotland-s-snowdrop-fans-1.1010222 |date=12 April 2014 }}, ''The Herald'' (Glasgow). '']''. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2014.</ref><ref name="rare_plants"> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319025454/http://www.rareplants.co.uk/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=99&P_ID=2970 |date=19 March 2014 }}, rareplants.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2014.</ref>


The gymnasium at the school was demolished on 11 April 1996 and replaced by a memorial garden.<ref name="Independent_garden"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805061620/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/dunblane-school-gym-reduced-to-rubble-1304404.html |date=5 August 2017 }}, ''The Independent''. 12 April 1996. Retrieved 19 March 2014.</ref> Two years after the massacre, on 14 March 1998, a memorial garden was opened at Dunblane Cemetery, where Mayor and twelve of the children who were killed are buried.<ref name="BBC_garden"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031216123117/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/65519.stm |date=16 December 2003 }}, BBC. 14 March 1998. Retrieved 19 March 2014.</ref> The garden features a fountain with a plaque of the names of those killed.<ref name="BBC_garden" /> Stained glass windows in memory of the victims were placed in three local churches, St Blane's and the Church of the Holy Family in Dunblane and the nearby ] Kirk as well as at the Dunblane Youth and Community Centre.
Gardens and trees were planted, and cairns built at various locations, especially schools, throughout the UK in remembrance of the children and their teacher.


Newton Primary School awards The Gwen Mayor Rosebowl to a pupil every year.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} A charity, the Gwen Mayor Trust, was set up by the ] to provide funding for projects in Scottish primary schools.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229231932/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18124416.dunblane-teacher-fund-helps-school-arts/ |date=29 December 2019 }}, The Herald, 27 December 2019</ref>
The National Association of Primary Education commissioned a wooden sculpture, 'Flame for Dunblane', created by ], which was placed in the ], ].


The National Association of Primary Education commissioned a sculpture, "Flame for Dunblane", created by Walter Bailey from a single ], which was placed in the ], near ], ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pmsa.org.uk/pmsa-database/2171/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312003959/http://www.pmsa.org.uk/pmsa-database/2171/|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 March 2016|title=Flame for Dunblane|access-date=11 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12286153.Dunblane_forest_memorial/|title=Dunblane forest memorial (From Herald Scotland)|access-date=11 March 2016|archive-date=12 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312005655/http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12286153.Dunblane_forest_memorial/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Dunblane Youth and Community Centre, funded by donations made after the shootings, was opened in September 2004.


]
===Political impact===
Mrs. Ann Pearston, a friend of some of the bereaved families, founded a very widely supported campaign, named the ] (because March is ] time in Scotland), which gained 705,000 signatures in support, and was successful in pressing ], and the then-current ] government, into introducing a ban on all cartridge ammunition handguns with the exception of .22 calibre single-shot weapons in England, Scotland and Wales. The families of the victims were active in the lobbying campaign as was the Gun Control Network, also set up in the aftermath of the shootings, and whose members included parents of victims at Dunblane and of the ]. The campaign was also supported by a number of newspapers, including the '']'', a Scottish tabloid whose own petition to ban handguns had raised 428,279 signatures within five weeks of the massacre.


The nave of Dunblane Cathedral has a ] by the monumental sculptor ]. It was commissioned by the Kirk Session as the cathedral's commemoration and dedicated at a service on 12 March 2001.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dunblane Cathedral|url=http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dunblane/cathedral/|website=Undiscovered Scotland|access-date=12 March 2017|archive-date=13 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313125553/http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dunblane/cathedral/|url-status=live}}</ref> It is a Clashach stone two metres high on a Caithness flagstone base. The quotations on the stone are by ] (''"He called a little child to him..."''), ] (''"...the spirit of a little child"''), ] (''"But still I dream that somewhere there must be The spirit of a child that waits for me"'') and ] (''"We are linked as children in a circle dancing"'').<ref>{{cite web|title=Dunblane Commemoration Stone|url=http://www.kindersleystudio.co.uk/massacre-standing-stone-clashach-dunblane-cathedral/|website=Kindersley Studios|date=28 October 2009 |access-date=12 March 2017|archive-date=17 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617112254/http://www.kindersleystudio.co.uk/massacre-standing-stone-clashach-dunblane-cathedral/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Following the ], the ] government of ] introduced the ], banning the remaining .22 cartridge handguns in England, Scotland and Wales, and leaving only muzzle-loading and historic handguns legal, as well as certain sporting handguns (e.g. "Long-Arms") that fall outside the Home Office Definition of a "Handgun" due to their dimensions. The ban does not affect ], the ], or the ].


{{anchor|Musical Tributes}}With the consent of ], the musician Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for "]" in memory of the Dunblane school children and their teacher. The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing the chorus and ] on guitar, was released on 9 December 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/dunblane_reuters.html |title=Dunblane children record Dylan song for Christmas (Reuters) |publisher=Edlis.org |date=20 November 1996 |access-date=13 March 2012 |archive-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301071929/http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/dunblane_reuters.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Conspiracy theories===
Since the massacre, questions have been raised about the actions of Central Scotland Police in the case, and numerous Internet ] have arisen regarding alleged involvement by ], ], ], the supporters of the ] and ] ] organisations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wollaston|first=John G.|title=Conspiracy?: The Truth Will Shock You!|year=2006|publisher=Black Horse Press|location=Sydney, Australia|isbn=0958055904}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/dunblane.html|title=The Dunblane Shootings and Gun Law|month=October | year=2005|accessdate=2007-02-23|author=Martin Frost}}</ref> These were, to some extent, fuelled by the 100-year restriction on publication of parts of the ] into the massacre. The partial lifting of these restrictions on 3 October 2005 quelled some of the more outlandish theories. One of the victims' parents, who read the full version of all the documents before they were released, concluded there was no evidence for any conspiracy, but they do include some sensitive information.<ref></ref> Dunblane conspiracy sites still persist on the web.


Pipe Major Robert Mathieson of the ] composed a pipe tune in tribute, "The Bells of Dunblane".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cornemusique.free.fr/ukbellsofdunblane.php|title=Bells of Dunblane – Highland Bagpipes traditional tunes' stories by Stephane Beguinot|access-date=25 January 2016|archive-date=31 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131231017/http://cornemusique.free.fr/ukbellsofdunblane.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
''Dunblane Unburied'', the book written by Sandra Uttley who was a paramedic at the time of the Dunblane Massacre in Scotland, argues that Central Scotland Police were more culpable in the case than was officially admitted.<ref name="D-UB"/>


Scottish composer ] created a choral work, ''A child's prayer'', as a tribute to the dead at Dunblane.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W5002_GBAJY0121912|title=A child's prayer|publisher=Hyperion Records|access-date=9 November 2020|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308000624/https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W5002_GBAJY0121912|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Police activity==
Prior to the events of 13 March 1996, Hamilton was already well known to ]. There were a number of investigations and reports compiled, the exact number and content cannot be verified as they are still unavailable. However, some police involvement with Hamilton is known. In October 1994, Hamilton was cautioned by ] in ], when he was found with his trousers down in a "compromising position" with a young man. In 1991, following Hamilton's ] summer camp, complaints were made to ] and were investigated by the Child Protection Unit. Hamilton was reported to the ] for consideration of 10 charges, including assault, obstructing police and contravention of the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act of 1937. No action was taken.<ref name="D-UB"/>


English punk rock band ] released a song called "Dunblane" on their 1997 album ''Quintessentials'', with the chorus "After Dunblane how can you hold a gun and say you're innocent?"<ref>{{Citation|title=UK Subs – Dunblane|url=https://genius.com/Uk-subs-dunblane-lyrics|access-date=2021-09-03|archive-date=15 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715202934/https://genius.com/Uk-subs-dunblane-lyrics|url-status=live}}</ref>
==See also==
*]
*]
*]
*]


==References== == See also ==
{{Portal|Scotland|1990s|Law|Schools}}
===Notes===
* ] – responsible for a school hostage-taking and shooting in ] in 1967
{{reflist}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ], mass shooting in England in 2010
* ], mass shooting in England in 1987


===Bibliography=== == References ==
{{Reflist}}
*''Dunblane Unburied'', Sandra Uttley, BookPublishingWorld (8 Mar 2006), ISBN 1-905553-05-6.


== Further reading ==
===External links===
{{Refbegin}}
*
* {{Cite book|author=The Hon Lord Cullen|author-link=William Cullen, Baron Cullen of Whitekirk|title=The Public Inquiry into the Shootings at Dunblane Primary School on 13&nbsp;March 1996 |url=http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/scottish/dunblane/dunblane.htm|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20131205101310/http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/scottish/dunblane/dunblane.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 December 2013|access-date=29 August 2014 |date=30 September 1996|publisher=]|location=London|isbn=0-10-133862-7|oclc=60187397}}
*
* Mick North, ''Dunblane: never forget'', (Mainstream, 2000) {{ISBN|1-84018-300-4}}
*
* Pam Rhodes, ''Coming through: true stories of hope and courage'', (Pan, 2002) {{ISBN|0-330-48691-8}}
*
* Peter Samson and Alan Crow, ''Dunblane: our year of tears'', (Mainstream, 1997) {{ISBN|1-85158-975-9}}
*
* Peter Squires, ''Gun culture or gun control?: firearms, violence and society'', (Routledge, 2000) {{ISBN|0-415-17086-9}}
*
* P. Whitbread, "Media Liaison: The Lessons from Dunblane" in Shirley Harrison (ed.), ''Disasters and the media: managing crisis communications'', (Macmillan, 1999) {{ISBN|0-333-71785-6}}
*
* Peter Aylward, 'Understanding Dunblane and Other Massacres'(Routledge, 2012) {{ISBN|1780490941}}
*
{{Refend}}
*
*
*
*
*
* - A description on the incident by the Guardian
* - A report on the incident by the BBC on this day.


== External links ==
* The transcript of the 1996 Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane Massacre {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905043658/http://scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2001/01/7951/File-1|date=5 September 2012|url2=https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/3000/http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2001/01/7951/File-1| title2=National Records of Scotland|date2=13 June 2019}}
* {{UK-LEG|path=ukpga/1997/5|title=Firearms (Amendment) Act, 1997|type=ukpga}} Prohibition of weapons and ammunition and control of small-calibre pistols
* {{UK-LEG|path=ukpga/1997/64|title=Firearms (Amendment) (No 2) Act, 1997|type=ukpga}} Prohibition of small calibre pistols
*
*
*
* – A description of the incident by the Guardian

{{Mass shootings in the United Kingdom}}

{{Authority control}}

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Latest revision as of 05:29, 29 December 2024

Mass shooting in Dunblane, Scotland

Dunblane massacre
Gwen Mayor and her pupils, 1996
LocationDunblane, Stirling, Scotland
Coordinates56°11′20″N 3°58′27″W / 56.1890°N 3.9743°W / 56.1890; -3.9743
Date13 March 1996 (13 March 1996)
c. 9:35 – 9:40 a.m. (GMT)
TargetPupils and staff at Dunblane Primary School
Attack typeSchool shooting, mass murder, mass shooting, pedicide, murder–suicide
Weapons
Deaths18 (including the perpetrator)
Injured15
PerpetratorThomas Hamilton

The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton killed 16 pupils and one teacher and injured 15 others before killing himself. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in British history.

Following the killings, public debate centred on gun control laws, including public petitions for a ban on private ownership of handguns and an official inquiry, which produced the 1996 Cullen Report.

The incident led to a public campaign, known as the Snowdrop Petition, which helped bring about legislation, specifically two new Firearms Acts, which prohibited the private ownership of most handguns in Great Britain. The UK Government instituted a buyback programme which provided compensation to licensed owners.

Shooting

Deaths
  • Victoria Elizabeth Clydesdale (age 5)
  • Emma Elizabeth Crozier (age 5)
  • Melissa Helen Currie (age 5)
  • Charlotte Louise Dunn (age 5)
  • Kevin Allan Hasell (age 5)
  • Ross William Irvine (age 5)
  • David Charles Kerr (age 5)
  • Mhairi Isabel MacBeath (age 5)
  • Gwen Mayor (age 45) (teacher)
  • Brett McKinnon (age 6)
  • Abigail Joanne McLennan (age 5)
  • Emily Morton (age 5)
  • Sophie Jane Lockwood North (age 5)
  • John Petrie (age 5)
  • Joanna Caroline Ross (age 5)
  • Hannah Louise Scott (age 5)
  • Megan Turner (age 5)
  • Thomas Hamilton (age 43) (perpetrator)

At about 8:15 a.m. on 13 March 1996, Thomas Hamilton, aged 43, was seen scraping ice off his van outside his home at Kent Road in Stirling. He left soon afterwards and drove about five miles (eight kilometres) north to Dunblane. Hamilton arrived on the grounds of Dunblane Primary School at around 9:30 a.m. and parked his van near a telegraph pole in the car park of the school. He cut the telephone cables at the bottom of the telegraph pole which served nearby houses, before making his way across the car park towards the school buildings.

Hamilton headed towards the north-west side of the school to a door near the toilets and the school gymnasium. After entering, he made his way to the gymnasium armed with four legally-held handguns—two 9mm Browning HP pistols and two Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolvers. Hamilton was also carrying 743 ammunition cartridges. In the gym was a class of 28 Primary 1 pupils preparing for a P.E. lesson in the presence of three adult members of staff.

Before entering the gymnasium, it is believed Hamilton fired two shots into the stage of the assembly hall and the girls' toilet.

Hamilton started shooting rapidly and randomly. He shot P.E. teacher Eileen Harrild who was injured in her arms and chest as she attempted to protect herself and continued shooting into the gym. Harrild stumbled into the open-plan store cupboard at the side of the gym along with several injured children. Gwen Mayor, the teacher of the Primary 1 class, was shot and killed instantly. The other adult present, Mary Blake, a supervisory assistant, was shot in the head and both legs but also managed to make her way to the store cupboard with several of the children in front of her.

From entering the gymnasium and walking a few steps, Hamilton fired 29 shots with one of the pistols, killed one child, and injured several others. Four injured children had taken shelter in the store cupboard along with the injured Harrild and Blake. Hamilton then moved up the east side of the gym, firing six shots as he walked, and then fired eight shots towards the opposite end of the gym. He then went towards the centre of the gym, firing 16 shots at point-blank range at a group of children who had been incapacitated by his earlier shots.

A Primary 7 pupil who was walking along the west side of the gymnasium exterior at the time heard loud bangs and screams and looked inside. Hamilton shot in his direction and the pupil was injured by flying glass before running away. From this position, Hamilton fired 24 shots in various directions. He fired shots towards a window next to the fire exit at the southeast end of the gym, possibly at an adult who was walking across the playground, and then fired four more shots in the same direction after opening the fire exit door. Hamilton then exited the gym briefly through the fire exit, firing another four shots towards the cloakroom of the library, striking and injuring Grace Tweddle, another member of staff at the school.

In the mobile classroom closest to the fire exit where Hamilton was standing, Catherine Gordon saw him firing shots and instructed her Primary 7 class to get down onto the floor before Hamilton fired nine bullets into the classroom, striking books and equipment. One bullet passed through a chair where a child had been sitting seconds before. Hamilton then re-entered the gym, dropped the pistol he was using, and took out one of the two revolvers.

He put the barrel of the gun in his mouth, pointed it upwards, and pulled the trigger, killing himself. A total of 32 people sustained gunshot wounds inflicted by Hamilton over a 3–4 minute period, 16 of whom were fatally wounded in the gymnasium, including Gwen Mayor and 15 of her pupils. One other child died en route to hospital.

The first call to the police was made at 9:41 a.m. by the headmaster of the school Ronald Taylor, who had been alerted by assistant headmistress Agnes Awlson to the possibility of a gunman on the school premises. Awlson had told Taylor that she had heard screaming inside the gymnasium and had seen what she thought to be cartridges on the ground, and Taylor had been aware of loud noises which he assumed to have been from builders on site that he had not been informed of. As he was on his way to the gym, the shooting ended and when he saw what had happened he ran back to his office and told deputy headmistress Fiona Eadington to call for ambulances, a call which was made at 9:43 a.m.

The first ambulance arrived on the scene at 9:57 a.m. in response to the call made at 9:43 a.m. Another medical team from Dunblane Health Centre arrived at 10:04 a.m. which included doctors and a nurse, who were involved in the initial resuscitation of the injured. Medical teams from the health centres in Doune and Callander arrived shortly after. The accident and emergency department at Stirling Royal Infirmary had also been informed of a major incident involving multiple casualties at 9:48 a.m. and the first of several medical teams from the hospital arrived at 10:15 a.m. Another medical team from the Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary arrived at 10:35 a.m.

By about 11:10 a.m., all of the injured had been taken to Stirling Royal Infirmary for medical treatment. Upon examination, several of the patients were transferred to the District Royal Infirmary in Falkirk and some to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.

The shooter fired 106 shots in total during the massacre, including the suicide shot. 105 were fired by one of his Browning pistols, and the final shot was fired with one of his Smith & Wesson revolvers.

Perpetrator

Thomas Hamilton
BornThomas Watt
(1952-05-10)10 May 1952
Glasgow, Scotland
Died13 March 1996(1996-03-13) (aged 43)
Dunblane, Stirling, Scotland
Cause of deathSuicide by gunshot
OccupationFormer shopkeeper
Criminal statusDeceased
Details
Killed18 (including himself)
Injured15
WeaponsTwo 9mm Browning HP pistols, two Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolvers

Thomas Watt Hamilton was born as Thomas Watt Jr. on 10 May 1952 in Glasgow, the son of Thomas Watt Sr., a bus driver, and Agnes Graham Hamilton, a hotel chambermaid. When Hamilton was 18 months old, his father abandoned the family for another woman, after which his parents divorced and his father had no contact with him thereafter. Thomas' maternal grandparents, James and Catherine Hamilton raised Thomas as their son, legally adopting him and changing his name to Thomas Watt Hamilton. The family relocated to Stirling when Hamilton was a young boy. He was made to believe that his maternal grandparents were his actual parents, and that his mother was his older sister. Hamilton's grandparents told Thomas the truth when he was around 22 years old, which reportedly had a lasting psychological impact on him. He began working in youth organizations. As the head of several youth clubs, Hamilton had been the subject of several complaints to police regarding inappropriate behaviour towards young boys, including claims that he had taken photographs of semi-naked boys without parental consent. He had briefly been a Scout leader – in July 1973 at age 21, he had been appointed assistant leader with the 4th/6th Stirling troop of the Scout Association. Later that year, he was seconded as leader to the 24th Stirlingshire troop, which was being revived. Several complaints were made about Hamilton's leadership, including complaints about Scouts being forced to sleep in close proximity with him inside his van during hill-walking expeditions. Within months, on 13 May 1974, Hamilton's Scout Warrant was withdrawn, with the County Commissioner stating that he was "suspicious of his moral intentions towards boys". He was blacklisted by the Association and thwarted in a later attempt he made to become a Scout leader in Clackmannanshire.

Hamilton claimed in letters that local rumours regarding his behaviour towards young boys had led to the failure of his business in 1993, and that, in the last months of his life, he had complained that his attempts to organise a boys' club were subjected to persecution by local police and the scout movement. Among those he complained to were Queen Elizabeth II and his local Member of Parliament (MP), Michael Forsyth (Conservative). In the 1980s, another MP, George Robertson (Labour), who lived in Dunblane, had complained to Forsyth about Hamilton's local boys' club, which his son had attended. On the day after the massacre, Robertson spoke of having previously argued with Hamilton "in my own home".

On 19 March 1996, six days after the massacre, Hamilton's body was cremated. According to a police spokesman, this service was conducted "far away from Dunblane".

Subsequent legislation

The Cullen Reports, the result of the inquiry into the Dunblane massacre, recommended that the Government of the United Kingdom introduce tighter controls on handgun ownership and consider whether an outright ban on private ownership would be in the public interest in the alternative (though club ownership would be maintained). The report also recommended changes in school security and vetting of people working with children under 18. The Home Affairs Select Committee agreed with the need for restrictions on gun ownership but stated that a handgun ban was not appropriate.

An advocacy group, the six-member Gun Control Network, was founded in the aftermath of the massacre and was supported by some parents of the victims of the Dunblane and Hungerford massacres shootings. Bereaved families and others also campaigned for a ban on private gun ownership.

In response to public debate, the Conservative government of Prime Minister John Major introduced the Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 which banned all cartridge ammunition handguns with the exception of .22 calibre rimfire in England, Scotland, and Wales. Following the 1997 United Kingdom general election, the Labour government of Prime Minister Tony Blair introduced the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, banning the remaining .22 cartridge handguns as well. This left only muzzle-loading and historic handguns legal as well as certain sporting handguns (e.g. "Long-Arms") and long-barrelled handguns that fall outside the minimum barrel and overall length dimensions in the Firearms Act 1968, as amended.

This handgun ban did not apply to Northern Ireland, where it remains legal for citizens to own handguns for target shooting (if they hold a firearms licence) and, for self-defence, if the owner holds a personal protection weapon permit, almost 3000 of which were on issue as of 2012.

Evidence of previous police interaction with Hamilton was presented to the Cullen Inquiry but was later sealed under a closure order to prevent publication for 100 years. The official reason for sealing the documents was to protect the identities of children, but this led to accusations of a coverup intended to protect the reputations of officials. Following a review of the closure order by the Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd, edited versions of some of the documents were released to the public in October 2005. Four files containing post-mortems, medical records and profiles on the victims, as well as Hamilton's post-mortem, remained sealed under the 100-year order to avoid distressing the relatives and survivors.

The released documents revealed that in 1991, complaints against Hamilton were made to the Central Scotland Police and were investigated by the Child Protection Unit. He was reported to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration of ten charges, including assault, obstructing police and contravention of the Children and Young Persons Act 1937. Reports from serving police officers stated that he was unsuitable to own firearms; no action was taken.

Media coverage

Two books – Dunblane: Our Year of Tears by Peter Samson and Alan Crow and Dunblane: Never Forget by Mick North – both give accounts of the massacre from the perspective of those most directly affected. In 2009, the Sunday Express was criticised for an inappropriate article about the survivors of the massacre, thirteen years after the event.

On the Sunday following the shootings the morning service from Dunblane Cathedral, conducted by Colin MacIntosh, was broadcast live by the BBC. The BBC also transmitted the 9 October 1996 memorial service live from Dunblane Cathedral. A documentary series, Crimes That Shook Britain, discussed the massacre. The documentary Dunblane: Remembering our Children, which featured many of the parents of the children who had been killed, was broadcast by STV and ITV at the time of the first anniversary. In Cold Blood, a 1997 documentary exploring the psychology behind mass killings, examined the men behind the mass shootings in Dunblane, Aramoana, New Zealand and Port Arthur, Tasmania — and found common traits in the three murderers. At the time of the tenth anniversary in March 2006 two documentaries were broadcast: Channel 5 screened Dunblane — A Decade On and BBC Scotland showed Remembering Dunblane. On 9 March 2016 relatives of the victims spoke in a BBC Scotland documentary entitled Dunblane: Our Story to mark the twentieth anniversary. A 2018 Netflix documentary, Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane, directed by Kim A. Snyder, drew comparison with the Sandy Hook massacre in the US by exploring the grief and friendship between the two priests serving the affected communities at the times of the respective shootings. On 11 March 2021, ITV aired a special documentary to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary: Return to Dunblane with Lorraine Kelly in which the presenter revisited the town, speaking with the victims' families and emergency aid workers.

Memorials and tributes

Side view of the nave of a cathedral from outside. Tall arched glass windows run along half the length of the nave from the right. Adjacent to the nave, and the left of the scene is a cuboid-shaped tower with a conical spire. The foreground is scattered with headstones of a graveyard on green grass.
Numerous memorial services have been held at Dunblane Cathedral

Two days after the shooting, a vigil and prayer session was held at Dunblane Cathedral which was attended by people of all faiths. On Mothering Sunday, on 17 March, Queen Elizabeth II and her daughter Anne, Princess Royal, attended a memorial service at Dunblane Cathedral.

Seven months after the massacre, in October 1996, the families of the victims organised their own memorial service at Dunblane Cathedral, which more than 600 people attended, including Prince Charles. The service was broadcast live on BBC1 and conducted by James Whyte, a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Television presenter Lorraine Kelly, who had befriended some of the victims' families whilst reporting on the massacre for GMTV, was a guest speaker at the service.

In August 1997, two varieties of rose were unveiled and planted as the centrepiece for a roundabout in Dunblane. The two roses were developed by Cockers Roses of Aberdeen; the 'Gwen Mayor' rose and 'Innocence' rose, in memory of the children killed. A snowdrop cultivar, originally found in a Dunblane garden in the 1970s, was renamed 'Sophie North' in memory of one of the victims of the massacre.

The gymnasium at the school was demolished on 11 April 1996 and replaced by a memorial garden. Two years after the massacre, on 14 March 1998, a memorial garden was opened at Dunblane Cemetery, where Mayor and twelve of the children who were killed are buried. The garden features a fountain with a plaque of the names of those killed. Stained glass windows in memory of the victims were placed in three local churches, St Blane's and the Church of the Holy Family in Dunblane and the nearby Lecropt Kirk as well as at the Dunblane Youth and Community Centre.

Newton Primary School awards The Gwen Mayor Rosebowl to a pupil every year. A charity, the Gwen Mayor Trust, was set up by the Educational Institute of Scotland to provide funding for projects in Scottish primary schools.

The National Association of Primary Education commissioned a sculpture, "Flame for Dunblane", created by Walter Bailey from a single yew tree, which was placed in the National Forest, near Moira, Leicestershire.

The Dunblane Commemoration standing stone

The nave of Dunblane Cathedral has a standing stone by the monumental sculptor Richard Kindersley. It was commissioned by the Kirk Session as the cathedral's commemoration and dedicated at a service on 12 March 2001. It is a Clashach stone two metres high on a Caithness flagstone base. The quotations on the stone are by E. V. Rieu ("He called a little child to him..."), Richard Henry Stoddard ("...the spirit of a little child"), Bayard Taylor ("But still I dream that somewhere there must be The spirit of a child that waits for me") and W. H. Auden ("We are linked as children in a circle dancing").

With the consent of Bob Dylan, the musician Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" in memory of the Dunblane school children and their teacher. The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing the chorus and Mark Knopfler on guitar, was released on 9 December 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.

Pipe Major Robert Mathieson of the Shotts and Dykehead Pipe Band composed a pipe tune in tribute, "The Bells of Dunblane".

Scottish composer James MacMillan created a choral work, A child's prayer, as a tribute to the dead at Dunblane.

English punk rock band U.K. Subs released a song called "Dunblane" on their 1997 album Quintessentials, with the chorus "After Dunblane how can you hold a gun and say you're innocent?"

See also

References

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  2. "Public inquiry into the shootings at Dunblane Primary School". gov.uk. Scottish Office. 16 October 1996. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
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Further reading

External links

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