For Jack Crozier, talking about the Dunblane tragedy is never an easy subject.
But the 29-year-old, who lost sister Emma in Britain’s worst gun massacre, has found his voice campaigning across the world for greater gun control.
It’s a cause inspired by the bravery of his mum and dad and all the Dunblane parents who 25 years ago won their battle to ban handguns throughout Britain.
Jack, who was just two-years-old when Emma was murdered, said he’s compelled to speak out now to help other countries who are fighting changes to their gun laws.
He said: “I’m so close to my little sister Ellie but we’ve grown up not having that other relationship we should have had which has been a defining factor in our lives.
“Throughout my childhood, my parents remained active in gun control campaigning and when I was in university I was given a platform to tell my story.
“There is no joy in talking about Dunblane and what happened. It’s something that is difficult to talk about.
“But we have to.
“Firstly to lend our voices to those who are fighting for the same changes in places like America and secondly to make sure we never forget what happened here and to ensure we never let it happen again.”
Britain’s Gun Control Network are to host a Westminster reception on October 26 marking the 25th anniversary of the UK’s gun laws and recognising the work of the campaigners, journalists, and politicians who helped change the law.
When Thomas Hamilton shot dead sixteen P1 children and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School on March 13 1996 he was armed with four legally owned high-powered handguns and 743 rounds of ammunition.
He was able to kill Gwen Mayor, 45, five-year-old pupils Victoria Clydesdale, Emma Crozier, Melissa Currie, Charlotte Dunn, Kevin Hassell, Ross Irvine, David Kerr, Mhairi McBeath, Abigail McLennan, Emily Morten, Sophie North, John Petrie, Joanna Ross, Hannah Scott, Megan Turner, and six-year-old Brett McKinnon.
As Scotland mourned, anger grew that the killer, who had a firearms licence, had been able to access guns so easily.
Within days of the tragedy, the Snowdrop Petition calling for tighter gun controls was launched and gathered over 1 million signatures - with 450,000 of them from Sunday Mail readers.
In February 1997, the then Tory government agreed to a partial ban but it was Tony Blair’s Labour Government, who came to power in May that made all handguns illegal in November that year.
Jack, who now lives in London, remains incredibly proud of what the Dunblane parents achieved which has resulted in no school shootings since.
He’s committed to continuing that work by fighting for greater gun controls in other countries - particularly the US.
The sales advisor said: “In the UK it was 645 days after my sister’s death that we finally had the gun control legislation that we needed to keep the children of the UK safe.
“After Dunblane there was some legislation introduced but it wasn’t enough. There had to be a change in government.
“John Major told my dad that it was impossible for him to get the legislation that we needed passed through parliament so my dad told him he would find somebody who would. He did.”
The Sunday Mail launched the Ban All Guns campaign just four days after the atrocity using the picture of one of the pupils - Megan Turner. Within days, the campaign’s petition had over 200,000 signatures and the backing of the parents.
As anger continued to grow, thousands of people added their names to the petition.
Mick North, 74, who lost his only child, Sophie, 5, said all the families had needed to do channel their grief into something worthwhile.
The retired academic and founder of the Gun Control Network said: “The families who had lost children felt this was something important we had to do and I’m very proud of what we achieved.
“Before Dunblane happened, shooting with handguns was the fastest growing sport in the country and that just felt like something that was allowing this country to become too much like America.
“We had to do this because we didn’t want this to happen again.
“It’s now been 25 years and we are having a small reception to mark 25 years and recognise everything that all the people, campaigners, journalists, politicians, and everything that everybody did at the time to get this legislation passed.”
Since the ban, the UK now has some of the world’s tightest firearms laws in the world, with potential owners having to provide a valid reason for wanting a weapon for sporting or leisure purposes.
In 2017 licensing on air weapons came into force stopping anyone under 18 owning one and making it an offence to carry one following the death in Glasgow of two-year-old Andrew Morton who was shot with a high powered air rifle in 2005.
Gill Marshall Andrews, Chair of Gun Control Network said: “The British people were horrified by the Dunblane tragedy which killed 16 very young children and their teacher in 1996. The tide of public revulsion was overwhelming and was fuelled by powerful media campaigns for a complete ban on handguns.
“The campaign was successful and in Autumn 1997 the incoming Labour Government brought in a seminal piece of legislation that has transformed our society.”
Labour MSP Katy Clark said:“It is a cause for celebration that this landmark legislation brought in under Labour has hit its 25th anniversary.
“It was highly effective and continues to keep people safe to this day. As this anniversary looms, our thoughts are with those in the UK and beyond who have lost loved ones to gun violence.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Russell Findlay said: “This was perhaps the single most important and transformative campaign in Scottish newspaper history.
“People across Scotland recognised the overwhelming necessity to get handguns off our streets.
“The paper secured the backing of politicians from all parties, but much more importantly, the Dunblane parents who had suffered unimaginable loss.”
Jack is now focused on delivering real change in other countries and regularly travels to the US to meet American gun control activists.
Mass shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida, Columbine High School in Colorado and at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, have prompted a national debate on gun control.
Jack said: “It would be naive to expect a gun free culture in America but what we can hope for is steps towards that.
“They need to make incremental changes one step at a time with the goal being of living in a society that’s free from mass shootings.
“So that children don’t have to go to school in fear and don’t have to walk through a metal detector or have a police officer standing on the front door checking them for an AR15 rifle under their coat.
“They need to remove access to weapons as well as the types of weapons that Americans civilians have access to.”
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