First Minister John Swinney has spoken of the stark contrast he will “never, ever forget” between the Dunblane school massacre and the birth of his son on the same day 30 years ago. On March 13, 1996, gunman Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School in the deadliest mass shooting in UK history.
Mr Swinney, who was working at an insurance firm in Stirling at the time, recalled receiving a call that his son Stuart was about to be born. He said: “I left the office and saw ambulances going up the motorway towards Stirling, and didn’t quite know what was going on. So that day my son was born, and I remember the preciousness of his birth into the world. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that some of my work colleagues had to come to terms with the loss of their child in this unspeakable tragedy.”
The First Minister voted for the ban on handguns in the House of Commons in 1997. This week, Mick North, whose daughter Sophie died in the attack, has called for stricter gun control laws and background checks for firearms licensing. Mr Swinney said he takes Mr North’s comments “very seriously” and added: “We’ve got to be open-minded about whether we have all the regulations and controls in place that we require.”
MPs are currently considering tightening shotgun licensing to bring them in line with rifle restrictions. Reflecting on the UK’s response since Dunblane, Mr Swinney said: “We should be very proud that we took the action we took and honoured the suffering of the families. I think there’s a really powerful lesson for us all in that.”
