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Dunblane massacre: Encyclopedia BETAFree Encyclopedia |
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The AftermathHamilton's motives will never be known for sure, but it is known that there were complaints to police of his suspicious behaviour towards boys who attended the youth clubs he ran. He was apparently prone to violence, and there were suspicions his interest in boys was less than healthy, with at least one complaint about photographs of boys being taken without the parents' consent. He claimed in letters that rumours about him led to the collapse of his shop business in 1993, and in the last months of his life he complained again that his attempts to set up a boy's club were subject to persecution by the police and the scout movement. Among those he complained to were George Robertson and local MP Michael Forsyth. Robertson was involved with one of Hamilton's clubs for a time: the extent of their relationship was left unclear by the Cullen Inquiry, and Robertson launched a landmark 'e-libel' action against the Sunday Herald in 2003 after comments made on the newspaper's message board. He won an apology and damages.As the law stood at the time, the police were unable to revoke Hamilton's firearms certificate (gun licence) because there were no substantiated grounds to do so. Although several Central Scotland Police officers had suggested that revoking his firearms certificate should be considered, these were overruled as legal opinion was that he would be able to appeal successfully. The Cullen Inquiry recommended tighter control of handgun ownership as well as other changes in school security and vetting of people working with children under 18. However because the Hungerford massacre also involved a legal gun owner killing with his legally held guns public feeling had turned against private gun ownership and allowed a much more restrictive ban on handguns to pass. A month later, Martin Bryant killed 35 people in the Port Arthur Massacre in Tasmania, Australia. The chief defence psychiatrist in the case has revealed that the Dunblane massacre, and in particular the early treatment of Thomas Hamilton, was the trigger in Bryant's mind for the Port Arthur massacre.[1] Cultural ImpactWith the consent of Bob Dylan, a Dunblane musician named Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for Knockin' On Heaven's Door in memory of the Dunblane school children and their teacher.The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing chorus and Mark Knopfler on guitar, was released on December 9, 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.The Living End have a song on their self-titled album about the Dunblane massacre. It is called "Monday". Singer/Guitarist/Songwriter Chris Cheney said, "It was such a senseless act. I just felt compelled to write a song about it." Episode 1954 of Home And Away, in which the estranged father of a Year 7 student of Summer Bay High brought a rifle into the school and held headmaster Donald Fisher hostage all afternoon and overnight (throughout the episode), was not shown at all in the UK. ITV, which was notorious for its heavy-handed censorship of Home And Away, also edited out any other references to the siege in other episodes. This storyline was due to be shown in the UK a few months after the massacre, but had already aired in Australia before the events of March 13th Political ImpactMrs Ann Pearson, a friend of some of the bereaved families, founded a very widely supported campaign, named the Snowdrop Petition because March is snowdrop time in Scotland, gained 705,000 signatures in support, and was successful in pressing Parliament, under the new 1997 Labour government of Tony Blair, for a UK-wide ban on handguns. Although the Conservative legislation had banned handguns greater than .22 calibre, the Labour government went further with the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 and banned virtually all handguns. This, however, has not solved the burgeoning issue of gun crime in the United Kingdom.Conspiracy theoriesAfter the massacre numerous conspiracy theories arose up among shooters and supporters covering relationships between the Central Scotland Policy, Freemasonry, George Robertson, MI6, the supporters of the Snowdrop Petition and Northern Ireland terrorist organisations. These were largely fuelled by the 100 year restriction on publication of parts of the Cullen Inquiry into the massacre. The lifting of these restrictions on 3 October 2005 effectively ended these, although Dunblane conspiracy sites still and always will persist on the web and are still actively linked to by shooting organisations such as the Sportsman's Association.As with September the eleventh, a number of fund-raisers were held, but it has been claimed that the funds have not always been used reputably. See also*Hungerford massacre*List of massacres *School massacre External links*The final report of The Cullen Inquiry*The transcript of the 1996 Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane Massacre *Firearms (Amendment) Act, 1997 - Prohibition of weapons and ammunition and control of small-calibre pistols *Firearms (Amendment) (No 2) Act, 1997 - prohibition of small calibre pistols *After Dunblane Gun Control in the UK 1996-2001 (PDF) *BBC Order lifted on Dunblane papers *Dunblane papers released *A Timeline of the Massacre *A call for a new Public Inquiry
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