Dunblane: How Britain Banned Handguns

On the 13th of March 1996, a lone gunman walked into a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, carrying four handguns and 700 rounds of ammunition. He murdered sixteen children and one teacher, injured fifteen others, then shot himself. To date, it is the deadliest firearms atrocity in the UK. Marking the 30th anniversary of that day, Dunblane: How Britain Banned Handguns is the story of the parents, politicians and campaigners who came together in the wake of the tragedy to ensure this could never happen again.

The film features poignant contributions from Mick North who lost his daughter, Sophie; Kenny and Pamela Ross whose daughter Joanna was murdered as well as Eileen Harrild, the P1 gym teacher who was shot multiple times and gives a chilling account of what happened on the 13th March 1996.

A striking portrait of how ordinary people forced the government to change gun legislation, Dunblane: How Britain Banned Handguns hears from Ann Pearston, Jacqueline Walsh and Rosemary Hunter, three mothers from the local area who founded The Snowdrop Campaign. They reveal how their small petition to ban handguns in the UK resulted in a political push for reform.

Other contributions include former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Lord Michael Forsyth (then Secretary of State for Scotland) and Lord George Robertson (then Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland), Alastair Campbell (Labour’s former director of Communications), Michael Howard (former Home Secretary, Conservative) and David Mellor (former Conservative MP).  

ON AIR TUESDAY 10th FEBRUARY 2026 at 9pm on BBC Scotland and BBC I PLAYER, and on THURSDAY 12^th FEBRUARY 2026 at 9pm on BBC Two