Alexander vows to honour memory of Dunblane victims by upholding gun controls

Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander has said he is determined to honour the memory of victims of the Dunblane massacre by upholding the UK’s tight gun laws.

Mr Alexander said many people are still haunted by thoughts of the tragedy on March 13 1996, when Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 children and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School.

Consensus across society and political parties at the time that a ban on handguns was needed offered “one small glimmer of light in the enveloping darkness”, he said.

He voiced “deep admiration” for the parents who campaigned for tighter gun controls.

Mr Alexander told the Press Association: “All of us who remember that day, now 30 years ago, look back with horror at what unfolded in Dunblane.

“Those images of parents running to the school gate, the horror of what then emerged, was unprecedented and haunts many of us still to this day.

“I was living and working in Edinburgh at the time, I was a trainee solicitor.

“I remember vividly watching the news coverage. One small glimmer of light in the enveloping darkness was the complete consensus across Scottish society and across all the political parties that action needed to be taken in relation to the handgun ban.

“I very vividly remember those images of Michael Forsyth, who was then a leading Conservative politician, walking with George Robertson, a leading Labour politician who himself lived in Dunblane, showing the depth of unity across Scotland that not only must this never happen again, but that we needed to support the families in their campaign for action.”

In the wake of outrage and anti-gun campaigning after the atrocity, a ban on most handguns was introduced by John Major’s Conservative government in 1997.

Later that year, legislation widening the ban to include all cartridge ammunition handguns was introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour government.

Mr Alexander said those who remember the horror of that day share the commitment of those parents and of wider Scottish society to get policy right on gun controls.

“I look back with a sense of deep admiration for the campaigning work of the affected parents, a deep sense of sorrow, both for the children who were lost, the teacher who was lost, and the parents who suffered an unimaginable loss on that day,” the minister said.

“I also feel a shared determination to honour their memory by continuing to uphold those tight gun laws which have been so critical to Scotland’s safety in the last 30 years.”

He said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer spoke “very movingly” in the House of Commons this week acknowledging the scale and weight of the loss endured by families in Dunblane.

Mr Alexander said: “I feel great confidence in his willingness to affirm a determination that we will continue to take the right steps in relation to gun controls, because frankly, we never want to see a repeat of the horror that unfolded that day in Dunblane Primary School.”