It’s the Anniversary of tragic events in Dunblane. Remembering this day, 13th March back in 1996 when local man Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 little primary school children and their teacher, Gwen Mayor, in Dunblane Primary School’s gymnasium before killing himself. He used his licensed weapons and ammunition and changed the lives of countless families forever.
We remember Gwen and all those children this evening.
There is a memorial to the 17 victims in the local cemetery and a cenotaph in the cathedral. There are also stained-glasswindows in Church of the Holy Rude, St Blanes and Lecropt tempering the Children and their Teacher. The funds raised in the aftermath of the tragedy were used to build a new community centre (the Dunblane Centre). Following the incident, the government passed legislation banning ownership of all handguns—firearms under 60 centimetres (23.6 in) in overall length, in the United Kingdom.
