20 years after the dunblane shootings

BruceMo

BruceMo

Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,403
Name
Bruce
Edit My Images
No
never realised it was that long ago.
I still remember where I was working when I heard it on radio and driving home with tears in my eyes then driving through to lay some flowers. After watching one of the mothers talking about their daughters death, it still brings the same raw emotion. Bless the wee darlins
 
Bloody hell I didn't realise it was 20yrs ago, that's scary... You just can't put it into words how awful it was
 
Was one of those moments that pops up as a memory which remains in my memory whereby I don't remember what I was doing when the news came in.

I think it is why the passing of 20 years is of no great matter as the enormity of Dunblane marked a loss of a 'kind of' innocence that we had seen, and continue to see, in the USA (and in many other places), and for those communities involved, pain that never will be forgotten.
 
Last edited:
I do remember it was well, and the outrage that came with it, so glad we also took action and banned certain weapons to ensure these things don't happen again. its just such a shame we see these thing time and again in other nations.

sometimes a great pain is needed to make a change happen and make men think.
 
I was working in a Secondary School as the news came in that day .

The announcement was made over the school Tannoy system and then a deathly hush broke out for a while. It was unbelievable to our 11-16yr olds. Later they sobbed
 
I remember I was dayshift that morning driving a bus and seeing the flag at Edinburgh Castle and other places at half mast which were not in that position earlier in the morning thinking that someone famous has passed away, wasn't until break time I discovered why.
Watching it last night still brings a tear to the eye.
 
13/3 is my son`s birthday, remember watching the horror unfold on TV 20 years ago.
Lad is 23 now, Been through school, uni and now got a job and has some good friends. Always think of all the kids and parents from Dunblane on his birthday.
 
Mr Bump said:
I do remember it was well, and the outrage that came with it, so glad we also took action and banned certain weapons to ensure these things don't happen again. its just such a shame we see these thing time and again in other nations.

sometimes a great pain is needed to make a change happen and make men think.
Click to expand...
Reality check...
Thomas Hamilton should never have been granted a firearms certificate, based on his history, which was known to the police.
When he came to renew it, it should have been refused, not only because of his erratic behaviour and the large number of complaints that had been made about him to the police, but also because he no longer complied with his certificate conditions, i.e. he no longer belonged to a shooting club, but the police ignored all that and renewed it anyway.
5 years later, they renewed it yet again, despite even more negative information about him and despite the fact that it had by then been many years since he had belonged to a club, so had no good reason for possessing any guns. To be fair to the police, an experienced police officer did want to refuse his renewal, but he was overuled by a senior officer - I wonder whether that guy can sleep at night?

The atrocity was 100% caused by Hamiliton, aided and abbetted by an incompetent police force, but the government punished legitimate shooters by making it virtually impossible for them to carry on competing in their chosen sport.
(effectively) banning handguns hasn't made anyone safer, in fact after the (virtual) ban came into place the very small number of firearms incidents actually went up, not down.

As for the programme, I started to watch it but turned it off - too emotional for me.
 
I was glued to the programme. Very moving.
 
I suspect Hamilton would have procured a weapon even if he had been denied a firearms certificate.
 
@Garry Edwards Reallity check guns are stupid, people that like guns and want guns are stupid, ban guns and ban stupid.

when i first saw this post come up i knew you would be along with your tripe i just couldn't remember your name...
 
Mr Bump said:
@Garry Edwards Reallity check guns are stupid, people that like guns and want guns are stupid, ban guns and ban stupid.

when i first saw this post come up i knew you would be along with your tripe i just couldn't remember your name...
Click to expand...
Ban ban ban. Let's ban everything, that's the solution.
 
Mr Bump said:
@Garry Edwards Reallity check guns are stupid, people that like guns and want guns are stupid, ban guns and ban stupid.

when i first saw this post come up i knew you would be along with your tripe i just couldn't remember your name...
Click to expand...
Well, whilst there may be more than one inadequate hoplophobic on this forum, there are certainly a number of people just like myself, who are responsible gun owners and who try to point out that, in each of the 3 mass murder sprees carried out in this country in the last century, although an individual was responsible on each occasion, it was the individual and not the guns that caused the problem and that, in each case:
1. New regulations brought in as a result have achieved no positive result
2. In each case, those individuals would not have had guns if the police had carried out their job properly.
 
Garry Edwards said:
2. In each case, those individuals would not have had guns if the police had carried out their job properly.
Click to expand...

You can't know that Garry.
They're not that hard to get hold of even now.
 
viv1969 said:
You can't know that Garry.
They're not that hard to get hold of even now.
Click to expand...
Fair point, I'll rephrase that
2. In each case, those individuals would not have had guns LEGALLY if the police had carried out their job properly.
And that is something that we DO know, because none of the three met the required standard for the issue or retention of a firearms certificate.

As for them not being that hard to get even now, my understanding is that illegal guns are much easier to get today, because of government cutbacks, e.g. not enough customs checks.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Fair point, I'll rephrase that
2. In each case, those individuals would not have had guns LEGALLY if the police had carried out their job properly.
And that is something that we DO know, because none of the three met the required standard for the issue or retention of a firearms certificate.

As for them not being that hard to get even now, my understanding is that illegal guns are much easier to get today, because of government cutbacks, e.g. not enough customs checks.
Click to expand...

Well, all I can say to that is in the 16 years I've been in my current job, Customs checks have become FAR more stringent.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Fair point, I'll rephrase that
2. In each case, those individuals would not have had guns LEGALLY if the police had carried out their job properly.
And that is something that we DO know, because none of the three met the required standard for the issue or retention of a firearms certificate.

As for them not being that hard to get even now, my understanding is that illegal guns are much easier to get today, because of government cutbacks, e.g. not enough customs checks.
Click to expand...
I agree that they are easier, but not because of government cutbacks at all. It's very simple; the harder you make something to obtain legally, the bigger market will develop to provide that illegally. And with modern technology, and old fashioned technology it will only become easier.
 
viv1969 said:
Well, all I can say to that is in the 16 years I've been in my current job, Customs checks have become FAR more stringent.
Click to expand...
Strange that different people have such different experiences..

I've flown into international airports where there have NEVER been any customs officers on duty. And then there's the containers of goods, including metals, that are never checked because the importors are respectable. And as for the massive number of totally unchecked containers of perishable food that comes in from south asia...
 
Garry Edwards said:
Strange that different people have such different experiences..

I've flown into international airports where there have NEVER been any customs officers on duty. And then there's the containers of goods, including metals, that are never checked because the importors are respectable. And as for the massive number of totally unchecked containers of perishable food that comes in from south asia...
Click to expand...

Of course every container isn't physically checked...do you have any idea how many there are?
And inspection has nothing to do with who is importing the goods, but rather who has exported the goods at source; even then the vast majority of physical inspections on containers entering the UK are carried out either randomly, or via information received.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Strange that different people have such different experiences..

I've flown into international airports where there have NEVER been any customs officers on duty. And then there's the containers of goods, including metals, that are never checked because the importors are respectable. And as for the massive number of totally unchecked containers of perishable food that comes in from south asia...
Click to expand...

Oh dear, just because YOU don't see anyone that really doesn't mean it's not happening. If that is what you base it on then you severely lack the imagination of what checks are actually happening and being undertaken.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nod
Cg_Girl said:
For goodness sake It would have been nice for this thread to stay solely on remembering those poor families and what they went through etc
Click to expand...

Indeed it would... In fact, I think it should from here on in... Please take note folks.
 
Saw a piece on the news the other morning about it. I was 19 when it happened and whilst I can remember how horrific it was at the time, now I'm a parent I found myself welling up just at the news report. I just can't imagine what those poor people went through :(
 
Terrible thing, I've thought about this for hours over the years and fail to understand why... I am not a religious person but I hope for the kids they rest in peace, and he rots in hell for ever more!

So sad!

:(
 
Cg_Girl said:
For goodness sake It would have been nice for this thread to stay solely on remembering those poor families and what they went through etc
Click to expand...

TheBigYin said:
Indeed it would... In fact, I think it should from here on in... Please take note folks.
Click to expand...

Obviously folks are not reading the posts.
Can the arguments about guns be removed? Its spoiling this sensitive thread.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Obviously folks are not reading the posts.
Can the arguments about guns be removed? Its spoiling this sensitive thread.
Click to expand...

Me included, I'm embarrased to say - forgot to "follow" this thread.

it's now tidied. All the "gun control" related posts AFTER MY WARNING have been deleted.

Anyone who want to argue about gun control - open a thread in hot topics - NOT IN THIS ONE. Anyone else who posts in here on that subject will find they can no longer post in this thread. Am I making myself clear ??
 
Last edited:
From Wikipedia:-
Evidence of previous police interaction with Hamilton was presented to the Cullen Inquiry but later sealed under a closure order to prevent publication for 100 years.[16] The official reason for sealing the documents was to protect the identities of children, but this led to accusations of a coverup intended to protect the reputations of officials.[17] Following a review of the closure order by the Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd, edited versions of some of the documents were released to the public in October 2005. Four files containing post mortems, medical records and profiles on the victims, as well as Thomas Hamilton's autopsy, remained sealed under the 100 year order to avoid distressing the relatives and survivors.[18]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top