Dunblane massacre#Perpetrator

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Dunblane massacre

| image = File:Dunblane_Primary_13_March_1996A.jpg

| alt =

| image_upright =

| caption = Gwen Mayor and her pupils, 1996

| location = Dunblane, Stirling, Scotland

| coordinates = {{Coord|56.1890|-3.9743|format=dms|type:event_region:GB-STG|display=inline,title}}

| target = Pupils and staff at Dunblane Primary School

| date = 13 March 1996

| time = {{Circa}} 9:35–9:40 a.m.

| timezone = GMT

| type = School shooting, mass murder, mass shooting, pedicide, murder–suicide

| fatalities = 18 (including the perpetrator)

| injuries = 15

| perp = Thomas Hamilton

| weapons =

2 9mm Browning Hi-Power semi-automatic pistols
2 Smith & Wesson Model 19 revolvers (one unused, one used in suicide)

| motive =

}}

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.{{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 |publisher=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.}}

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.{{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=Scottish Office|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}}

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

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|Deaths[Charlotte], BBC. h2g2. 15 May 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2012.

{{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 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.[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/276631/3386.pdf The Public Inquiry into the Shootings at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996] {{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. He left soon afterwards and drove about {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} north[http://www.distance.to/Stirling/Dunblane Distance between Stirling and 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. 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[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR2007042301794.html "Britain's Gun Laws Seen as Curbing Attacks"] ({{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.—two 9mm Browning HP pistols and two Smith & Wesson M19 .357 Magnum revolvers. Hamilton was also carrying 743 ammunition cartridges, consisting of 501 9mm cartridges and 242 .357 Magnum 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.[http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2001/01/7951/File-1 Transcripts of Proceedings at the Public Enquiry into Incident at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996] {{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.

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.{{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}}

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.[https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/mar/14/dunblane-massacre-scotland-killing From the archive, 14 March 1996: Sixteen children killed in Dunblane massacre] {{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.

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.{{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}} Out of the twenty-five 20-round 9mm magazines that the shooter brought to the school, four were empty and three were partially empty.[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/276631/3386.pdf The Public Inquiry into the Shootings at Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996] {{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.

Perpetrator

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Thomas Hamilton

| birth_name = Thomas Watt

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1952|05|10}}{{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=The Independent|date=17 March 1996 |access-date=9 August 2018}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1996|3|13|1952|05|10}}

| death_place = Dunblane, Stirling, Scotland

| occupation = Former shopkeeper

| death_cause = Suicide by gunshot

| marital_status =

| children =

| fatalities = 18 (including himself)

| injuries = 15

| weapons =

| conviction_status = Deceased

}}

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.Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 4, paras. 12–15 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 to 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.Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 4

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".{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199596/cmhansrd/vo960314/debtext/60314-05.htm|title=Dunblane Primary School (Shooting)|work=UK Parliament|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}}{{cite news|title=Officials Ignored Repeated Warnings about Dunblane Killer, Files Reveal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/oct/04/ukcrime.ukguns|work=The Guardian|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}}

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".{{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 }}

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 ownershipCullen Report 1996, Chapter 8, paras. 9–119 and consider whether an outright ban on private ownership would be in the public interest in the alternative (though club ownership would be maintained).Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 9, para. 113 The report also recommended changes in school securityCullen Report 1996, Chapter 10, para. 19,26 and vetting of people working with children under 18.Cullen Report 1996, Chapter 11, paras. 21, 29–39 and 47 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.{{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}} Bereaved families and others also campaigned for a ban on private gun ownership.{{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 }}

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.{{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}} 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,{{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 }} 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.{{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=The_Guardian|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}}

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.{{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=The Daily Telegraph |date=10 February 2003 |access-date=7 October 2012}}{{cbignore}} 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.{{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=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media |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 }} 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.{{cite news |title=Order lifted on Dunblane papers |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4290938.stm |work=BBC News |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 }}

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.Uttley (2006), p. 209

Media coverage

Two books – Dunblane: Our Year of Tears by Peter Samson{{cite book|title=Dunblane: Our Year of Tears|url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7127568-dunblane-our-year-of-tears|website=Goodreads|date=1997 |publisher=Mainstream |isbn=978-1-85158-975-3 |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}} and Alan Crow and Dunblane: Never Forget by Mick North{{cite book|title=Dunblane: Never Forget|url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/373581.Dunblane_Never_Forget|website=Goodreads|isbn=978-1-84018-300-9 |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}} – 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.{{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}}

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.{{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}} 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.{{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}} 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.{{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}}{{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}} At the time of the tenth anniversary in March 2006 two documentaries were broadcast: Channel 5 screened Dunblane — A Decade On{{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}} and BBC Scotland showed Remembering Dunblane.{{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}} On 9 March 2016 relatives of the victims spoke in a BBC Scotland documentary entitled Dunblane: Our Story to mark the twentieth anniversary.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b072ww59|title=Dunblane: Our Story|work=BBC|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}} 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.{{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}}{{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}}{{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}} 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.{{cite news|url=https://www.itv.com/hub/return-to-dunblane-with-lorraine-kelly/10a0668a0001|title=Return to Dunblane with Lorraine Kelly|work=ITV|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}}

Memorials and tributes

File:Dunblane Cathedral.jpg]]

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.[http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/dunblane-victims-to-be-honoured-prince-will-attend-memorial-service-1.432608 Dunblane victims to be honoured Prince will attend memorial 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 }}. The Herald. 7 October 1996. Retrieved 18 March 2014. 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.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/roses-named-for-dunblane-dead-1246309.html Roses named for Dunblane dead] {{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. The two roses were developed by Cockers Roses of Aberdeen;[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Flower+power+for+Dunblane+tribute.-a061003202 Flower power for Dunblane tribute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319025733/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Flower+power+for+Dunblane+tribute.-a061003202 |date=19 March 2014 }}, Daily Record. 20 August 1997. Retrieved 14 March 2014. the 'Gwen Mayor'[http://www.roses.uk.com/rose.cfm?roseid=125 Gandy's Hybrid Tea Roses – Gwen Mayor] {{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. rose and 'Innocence'[http://www.roses.uk.com/rose.cfm?roseid=141 Low Growing Patio Roses – Innocence] {{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. 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.[http://www.heraldscotland.com/life-style/real-lives/scotland-s-snowdrop-fans-1.1010222 Scotland’s Snowdrop fans] {{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). The Herald. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2014.[http://www.rareplants.co.uk/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=99&P_ID=2970 Galanthus Sophie North] {{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.

The gymnasium at the school was demolished on 11 April 1996 and replaced by a memorial garden.[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/dunblane-school-gym-reduced-to-rubble-1304404.html Dunblane school gym reduced to rubble] {{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. 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.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/65519.stm Dunblane victims remembered] {{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. 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} A charity, the Gwen Mayor Trust, was set up by the Educational Institute of Scotland to provide funding for projects in Scottish primary schools.[https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18124416.dunblane-teacher-fund-helps-school-arts/ Dunblane teacher fund helps school arts] {{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

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.{{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}}{{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}}

File:Dunblane Standing Stone.jpg

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.{{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}} 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").{{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}}

{{anchor|Musical Tributes}}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.{{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 }}

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

Scottish composer James MacMillan created a choral work, "A Child's Prayer", as a tribute to the dead at Dunblane.{{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}}

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?"{{Cite web|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}}

References

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
[http://www.ippnw.org/pdf/2001-mick-north.pdf After Dunblane Gun Control in the UK 1996–2001 (PDF)]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20051220112511/http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/051004.asp Dunblane papers released]
[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20131205124316/http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/scottish/dunblane/dun03a.htm A Timeline of the Massacre]
[http://century.guardian.co.uk/1990-1999/Story/0,,112749,00.html Dunblane Massacre] – A description of the incident by The Guardian