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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Martin Belam

Friday briefing: The legacy of the Dunblane massacre, 30 years on

Mourners hold hands
Mourners gather in the aftermath of the Dunblane shooting. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

Good morning. On 13 March 1996, a man walked into the gymnasium at Dunblane primary school and opened fire on a class of five- and six-year-olds. In the space of just a few minutes, 16 children – Abigail McLennan, Brett McKinnon, Charlotte Dunn, David Kerr, Emily Morton, Emma Crozier, Hannah Scott, Joanna Ross, John Petrie, Kevin Hasell, Megan Turner, Melissa Currie, Mhairi MacBeath, Ross Irvine, Sophie North and Victoria Clydesdale – alongside their teacher, Gwen Mayor, were murdered. The attacker then turned a gun on himself.

Thirty years on, Dunblane remains the UK’s deadliest mass shooting. And the town itself remains a place shaped by that day – but also by what came after: the determination of families, the strength of a community and a legacy that still touches lives today. In the wake of the tragedy, parents and supporters launched the Snowdrop Campaign for tighter gun laws, which helped to bring about sweeping reforms that left the UK with some of the strictest restrictions on private handgun ownership in the world.

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