16 March 2026

Although it is still a surprise, it is often the case that some good comes out of the worst tragedies. The massacre of sixteen five year olds and their Primary 1 schoolteacher at Dunblane Primary thirty years ago led to two very significant changes to Scottish culture.

The first was the regulation of those who were involved in working  with children and young people. It took time for these regulations to be accepted by those who were already involved in this work. Some had been working for decades and couldn’t understand why this was necessary.

Needless to say, Safeguarding  has now become integrated  into our culture and has been extended to cover people working with vulnerable adults and, indeed, everyone within the orbit of the church. Our care and concern for one another is supported and inspired by this significant cultural shift.

The second was the legislation which was passed by the UK Government to ban handguns. Thomas Hamilton had in his possession four handguns and 700 rounds of ammunition which he used indiscriminately in the Primary School. They were all legally owned by him.

It was a group of three women who drew up the Snowdrop Petition to ban handguns. The snowdrop was the only flower in bloom on the day of the shooting. The first public gathering of signatures was in a shop doorway in Stirling. Over the next few months an astonishing 700,000 signatures were gathered.

This was all done in pre-digital days when there was no recourse to mass communication by e-mail and social media outlets. The Conservatives banned all handguns except .22 pistols used by Olympic competitors. Labour followed by banning them too. And so the UK was saved from the wild west of American gun culture!