CONCERNS were expressed by Scottish ministers ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow about whether shooting events would be controversial due to sensitivities around the Dunblane shooting.
In March 1996, Thomas Hamilton killed 16 pupils and a teacher at Dunblane Primary School before shooting himself.
The tragedy resulted in a severe tightening of firearms measures in the UK.
However, cabinet papers released by the National Records of Scotland have revealed a discussion which occurred between former First Minister Jack McConnell and his ministers.
During the bidding process for the games in February 2007, McConnell - who was then at the head of the Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition in the Scottish Parliament - noted that shooting had been included as one of the events set to take place.
"Although this decision could prove to be controversial, given the sensitivities that remained in Scotland following the Dunblane tragedy, it was clear that, without it, Glasgow would have lost votes on its bid," the papers said.
It was subsequently decided that shooting events would take place at already existing firearms training facilities used by the military and police.
In 2014, shooting events were held at the Barry Buddon training camp near Dundee - a facility run by the Ministry of Defence.
The papers also reveal that later that year ministers were concerned about NHS staff being victimised in the wake of the Glasgow Airport attack due to the fact that one of the attackers was a doctor.
Bilal Abdullah, who was at the time working as a doctor and diabetes specialist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, had been part of the terrorist attack in June 2007, which saw Abdullah and his accomplice Kafeel Ahmed drive through the doors of the airport in a car filled with propane tanks.
Ahmed died in the attack and Abdullah was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 32 years to be spent behind bars.
But details from a cabinet meeting on 3 July 2007 - with former First Minister Alex Salmond then at the helm - discussed the potential demonisation of NHS staff.
The papers said: "It would be important to get the strong messages across publicly that NHS staff, like the other emergency services involved in these incidents, had shown huge professionalism in dealing with the aftermath of the events and that health professionals from overseas played an important role in the NHS in Scotland."
