On the morning of Wednesday 13 March, 1996, a gunman armed with four legally-held guns: two semi-automatic pistols and two Smith and Wesson revolvers, with 743 rounds of ammunition entered a Primary School in Dunblane, a small close-knit Scottish town. He proceeded into the gymnasium; where he committed Britain's worst modern gun-related massacre. It was reported at the time that the gunman had intended to arrive at Dunblane Primary School during assembly. However, this plan was thwarted when he was held up in traffic on the icy roads.

The Victims

Instead, he chose the School's gymnasium as the scene of his crime, and the five and six year old children of Primary One and their teachers as his victims. By the time the gunman turned the gun on himself, ending his own life and the three-minute massacre; in which approximately 105 bullets were fired, 15 children lay dead, along with their teacher. A further 12 children and two teachers lay injured, bleeding and shocked. One of the injured children later died in hospital.

The gunman entered the gym wearing a woolly hat and earmuffs with his gun outstretched in his hand; he started shooting almost immediately. His first targets were the adults; possibly because they were a threat to him. Physical Education (PE) teacher, Eileen Harrild, was the first victim of his bullets; she was shot in the chest. As Eileen put her arms up to protect her body, she was shot three more times in her arms and hand. Next was Mary Blake, a supervisory assistant; she was shot in both her legs, and her head. Gwen Mayor was shot six times, including in her right eye; she died almost instantly. The gunman then turned his gun on the children, who by this time were running around, panicking and screaming. Meanwhile, Eileen and Mary had crawled to the storeroom, which was a blind spot from the entrance the gunman had entered from. Some of the children had followed them, and had been shot; several were lying at their feet. Eileen, concerned that the screams would attract the gunman's attention, tried to quieten the children by putting her finger to her lips and saying 'shush', Mary did the same. The children seemed to understand the importance of being quiet; their noise ceased.

Between the noise of the gunshots, Eileen heard the metal scrapping of the fire exit being opened; shortly afterwards the gymnasium became silent. Unknown to Eileen, the gunman had killed himself. Then the voices of teachers and staff were heard. The killing had stopped, help had arrived.

One Boy's Survival

The most seriously injured child who survived was six-year-old Coll, he was shot in the foot. As Coll hopped towards the teachers and children near the storeroom he was shot again, in the arm, then in the back. Coll fell face down; he saw one of his friends in a pool of blood, staring at him. As Coll lied there, he heard the gunman approach, he saw his boots in front of him; the gunman again shot Coll in the back.

Coll had slipped into a coma and was rushed by air ambulance helicopter to Yorkhill hospital, Glasgow. He had extensive injuries caused by the two bullets fired into his back. One had caused two collapsed lungs and broken ribs. The other had exited through his head; breaking his jaw and fracturing his cheekbone. It narrowly missed Coll's brain. However, Coll lost his sight and hearing on his right-hand side.

His parents were advised that Coll's chances of survival were slim. However, Coll defied the odds; he awoke from the coma three days later. In those three days his parents were almost constant at his bedside. Coll, a football fan, was collecting football stickers, every day his dad bought some football stickers and opened them at Coll's bedside, telling Coll about the players on the stickers.

About a week afterwards Coll was well enough to go home, although he still needed medical care, the doctors felt being in his own familiar surroundings would help his recovery.

Rumours and News

As the rumours of a shooting incident at the school spread around Dunblane, worried parents rushed to the school, passing ambulances with sirens blaring, that were ferrying some of the the wounded children and teachers to the Stirling Royal Infirmary.

When the parents arrived at the school they could go no further than the school gates, where police prevented them from going into the school. There they waited; tearful, huddled and anxious. Investigations discovered it was Mrs Mayor's Primary One class who had been the victims. The school was closed; children from other classes were taken in small groups to waiting parents.

Parents of children in Mrs Mayor's class were separated and directed to a house on the right-hand side of the school entrance. Affected parents among those who had been stopped by a police roadblock and directed to the nearby Westlands Hotel later joined them. From there, they were transported by minibus and taken to a room inside the school. There, after waiting for hours, one by one the parents of the murdered children were taken to another room and given the news that their child was dead.

As the media descended on Dunblane, reporting the full horror of that Wednesday morning across Britain and around the world, the news was met with shocked disbelief, numbness and tears.

Worldwide messages of condolence, cards, flowers, thoughts and prayers were sent to the bereaved parents and the mourning community of Dunblane, including the Queen, the then Prime Minister John Major, Labour Leader Tony Blair as well as from MPs and ministers from all political parties. The area around the school soon became a sea of flowers.

On Friday, two days after the shooting, John Major and Tony Blair, political rivalry put aside, made a joint visit to Dunblane. After witnessing the scene of Britain's worst modern gun-related massacre they pledged the money to demolish and rebuild the gymnasium. They also visited the wounded children and teachers at the Stirling Royal Infirmary.

Later that Friday evening all religious differences were put aside as the Dunblane community, which included those of different faiths, joined together for a vigil and prayers at Dunblane's Cathedral. Eight clergymen attended from Dunblane's five principal religions.

Two days later, on the Sunday, Mothers Day, a memorial service was held in the Cathedral, attended by the Queen and her daughter, Princess Anne, on their visit to Dunblane. A minute's silence was held throughout the nation. The Queen spoke to some of the bereaved parents after the service. The Royal pair then visited the wounded children and teachers at the Stirling Royal Infirmary.

The Funerals

Over the following four days, from Monday 18 March to Thursday 21 March, came the funerals of the 16 children and their popular and respected teacher. A corner of the Dunblane Cemetery serves as a silent classroom where a teacher and 13 of the 16 children who died that day lie at rest surrounded by flowers.

• Gwen Mayor, 45 years old
• Victoria Clydesdale, five years old
• Emma Crozier, five years old.
• Melissa Currie, five years old
• Charlotte Dunn, five years old
• Kevin Hasell, five years old
• Ross Irvine, five years old
• David Kerr, five years old
• Mhairi McBeath, five years old
• Brett McKinnon, six years old
• Abigail McLennan, five years old
• Emily Morton, five years old
• Sophie North, five years old
• John Petrie, five years old
• Joanna Ross, five years old
• Hannah Scott, five years old
• Megan Turner, five years old

On 22 March, the school was reopened, except for the gymnasium, which was demolished on 10 April.

The Memorials

A large amount of money was donated to the people of Dunblane, along with cards and letters of condolence. Some donors specified where they wished their donation to be used: either for the families directly affected or for the community as a whole.

A combination of three groups: the Primary School, the Dunblane Fund and the Stirling Observer originally managed and distributed the money donations. Later it was managed and distributed by Dunblane Community Trust on behalf of the community and the Primary School Trust to enhance educational needs.

Memorial Gardens

The memorials funded by the Dunblane Community Trust include two memorial gardens. One garden is inside the perimeter of the cemetery, which includes a fountain and a commemorative plaque. The other garden, includes a seating area, was built on an old quarry site, which is now under threat from being purchased and redeveloped.

Youth Centre and Sports Hall

In September 2004, eight years after the massacre, a youth centre and community sports hall commemorating the victims was opened. Four doves, symbolising peace were released at the centre’s opening ceremony. Inside the centre are various glass engravings paying tribute to the dead and injured.

It had taken eight years of planning, organising and building. The planning included ideas from the Dunblane Youth Project Trust. The funding was from various individuals and organisations including: SportScotland Lottery Fund, the Dunblane Golf Club as well as the Dunblane Community Trust.

The Dunblane Commemoration

The newest artifact in Dunblane Cathedral is the Dunblane Commemoration; a tall engraved stone tablet commemorating the tragedy, which was unveiled at a ceremony on 12 March, 2001.

Knockin' On Heaven's Door - CD

A local musician Ted Christopher, wrote the following new verse for Bob Dylan's recording of Knockin' On Heaven's Door.

Lord these guns have caused too much pain
This town will never be the same
So, for the bairns of Dunblane,
We ask, please, never again.

Dylan, agreed to Christopher's remake, which also included some of the children from the school, including some of the survivors from Mrs Mayor's class, singing the chorus, and Mark Knopfler on guitar. The revised version was released on CD and the proceeds were divided between three children's charities.

Fatal Accident Inquiry

As Gwen Mayor's death occurred during her working hours, a Fatal Accident Inquiry was held in accordance with Scotland's employment laws. The Inquiry took place at Stirling Sheriff Court in November, 1996. The Sheriff Principal recorded that Gwen had been unlawfully killed. The two-hour hearing included the following information on Gwen’s injuries:

Her most serious injury was caused by a bullet which entered her right eye. It shattered her skull and caused extensive brain damage. It would have been instantly fatal. A second shot entered the back of her left shoulder, tore trough her lungs and chest, out of her right armpit and into her upper right arm. A third hit her in the chest and came out of the side of her neck. A fourth entered her neck and went up into her mouth. Any of these last three bullets would also have been fatal. A fifth shot, which shattered her right lower arm before entering her left wrist, showed her arms had been crossed in front of her. A sixth hit her near the collar bone. She had tried to protect herself as the bullets flew.

The Snowdrop Campaign

The Snowdrop Campaign was launched in the aftermath of the Dunblane massacre. Its aim was to ban the private ownership of handguns across Britain in the hope of preventing such a tragedy from ever happening again. Mrs Ann Pearson, a friend of some of the bereaved families, led the Snowdrop Campaign, named after the flowering snowdrops in March. The campaign quickly gathered support; this was something ordinary people could do for Dunblane.

In July a group of organisers from the Snowdrop Campaign, including some of the bereaved families, travelled to the House of Commons in London to present a petition containing approximately 750,000 signatures. This was the second petition urging the government to ban handguns. The first, containing approximately 400,000 signatures, organised by Sunday Mail, had previously been delivered to the government by a group of bereaved families. The group from Snowdrop also had scheduled meetings with Labour Leader, Tony Blair and Diana, Princess of Wales at Kensington Palace.

Despite pressure from shooting clubs, rifle clubs, gun enthusiasts, and other interested parties not to make a decision based on the emotional reaction to the shootings, the then Conservative Government introduced legislation; the result was the Firearms (amendment) Act of February 1997. All handguns, apart from pistols able to fire .22 or smaller cartridges, could no longer be legally bought, sold or possessed in the UK.

After a change of government in May 1997, the Labour government proposed new legislation to ban all handguns. The proposal was passed. In November, 1997 the private ownership of all handguns became illegal in the UK.

The Snowdrop Campaign was a huge success in its achievement of changing the UK's handgun laws; which was combined with a handgun amnesty. More than 160,000 handguns were anonymously handed in to police stations across the UK.

However, a report published in 2001 revealed that within two years of the handgun legislation, crime involving them had rose by 40% and that the possession of illegally held handguns had continued to rise. Another handgun amnesty was held in 2003, after the murder; involving handguns, of two teenage girls from Birmingham. 40,000 illegally held weapons were handed in to police. Statistics on the current amount of illegally held handguns is not known.

The Gunman

The gunman who committed this atrocity was 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton, who lived in nearby Stirling. Hamilton was known to be a gun enthusiast, and possessed six licensed guns. He also had a history of interest in running boys' clubs. Hamilton was sacked from his position as Scout Leader when he was 20 years old due to complaints about his behaviour towards the boys in his care. He set up boys clubs over the years, which attracted police attention after complaints from concerned parents.

A public enquiry into the Dunblane massacre chaired by Lord Cullen concluded that Hamilton's actions on that day could not have been predicted.