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UK govt's reaction to horrifying Dunblane school shooting held as example to US politicians

The UK government enacted strict gun control laws after the 1996 Dunblane massacre that claimed 18 lives

British gun control advocates have slammed the massacre of 19 children and 2 adults at a primary school in south Texas as they highlighted how the UK government enacted strict gun control laws after the 1996 Dunblane massacre that claimed 18 lives.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott revealed how 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on Tuesday afternoon, May 24, killing 19 students and two adults, and injuring several others. Many have called it the deadliest shooting at a US grade school since the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

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What happened in Dunblane?

On March 13, 1996, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot and killed sixteen children and their teacher in their school gym during a PE lesson. The shooter later turned the gun on himself.

Hamilton, a local former Scout leader, drove into Dunblane Primary’s car park just after 9:30 am and tried to jam the phone lines of the school by cutting cables on a telegraph pole. He subsequently entered the school premises carrying four handguns and 743 rounds of ammunition. The killer made his way to the school gym and immediately opened fire, killing one teacher instantly and wounding two others. Most of the students were dragged by their teachers into a store cupboard for safety, but Hamilton fired 16 shots at point-blank range at a group of children who had sustained injuries from his previous shots. Fifteen of them died instantly, while one child died en route to the hospital. 

Hamilton left the gym momentarily as he continued firing shots toward the library and a mobile classroom. He then returned to the gym, dropped the gun he was using, and took a Smith & Wesson to shoot himself, dying instantly. Authorities later found he had used his Browning pistol 105 times in a matter of four minutes. The final death toll was 17, with 32 others sustaining gunshot wounds.

The incident sparked widespread outrage and resulted in the UK government taking strict action on gun control. Leaders took decisive legislative action following a grassroots campaign led mostly by the Dunblane students' parents. By the end of 1997, the British parliament had banned private ownership of most handguns, including a semi-automatic weapons ban and mandatory registration for shotgun owners.

Prominent British figures reacted to the Texas school shooting on Tuesday afternoon. Tennis star Andy Murray, who survived the Dunblane shooting after Hamilton stormed into his primary school gym in 1996, was among several UK personalities to publicly condemn the incident. "F***ing madness," Murray tweeted.

Several British gun control advocates chimed in, speaking out against the lack of gun control in the US and noting how the UK had had zero school shootings since the new gun laws were enacted.

"26 years ago, a gunman entered Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, killing 16 kids and a teacher. The UK govt responded by enacting tight gun control legislation. In the 9400+ days since, there have been a total of O school shootings in the UK. #Uvalde," journalism professor Christian Christensen tweeted.

"After the Dunblane shooting in 1996, the UK made stricter gun laws. There have been a grand total of zero school shootings since. Maybe arming teachers and teaching kids to hide from assault weapons better is not the solution," author James Felton offered.

"I covered the Dunblane school shooting in 1996. All UK politicians, right and left, supported strict new gun control laws and said this can never happen again. And it hasn't," British journalist Nick Cohen added.

"Two massacres it took to give the UK among the toughest gun control laws anywhere. Two small men with guns in Hungerford and Dunblane. I'm not going to name them because they only deserve obscurity. Know what else we don't miss? The guns. Fuck them and those that idolize them," writer Jonathan Howard chimed in