Swinney recalls contrast of son’s birth on day of Dunblane tragedy

First Minister John Swinney has reflected on the “contrast” he will “never, ever forget” with the Dunblane tragedy and the birth of his son on the same day 30 years ago.

Sixteen children and their teacher were murdered in the deadliest mass shooting in UK history on March 13, 1996 when gunman Thomas Hamilton entered the gymnasium of Dunblane Primary School and opened fire on a primary one class.

Mr Swinney recalled how he welcomed the birth of his son Stuart while aware of “the devastation that was felt by people I knew who had lost their children.

He said he received a call that Stuart would be born while at work at an insurance firm in Stirling, a few miles from Dunblane.

“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 and how I felt as a father of a new child.

“But I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that that very same day, some of my work colleagues had to come to terms with the loss of their child in this unspeakable tragedy.

“The contrast of how I felt about the arrival of my son in comparison to the devastation that was felt by people I knew who had lost their children, was a contrast that I’ll just never, ever forget.”

Mr Swinney voted in favour of a ban on handguns in the House of Commons in 1997, a year after the massacre.

This week, the father of one of the children who died in the attack has called for stricter gun control laws and background checks for firearms licensing.

Mick North’s daughter Sophie was shot dead along with 15 of her classmates and their teacher, Gwen Mayor.

Looking at whether further gun control legislation is needed in the UK, Mr Swinney said: “I have great respect and take very seriously what Mick North says in this debate and I think we’ve got to be open-minded about this question as to whether we have all of the regulations and the controls in place that we require to have.

“I think we’ve got to make sure that wherever any licence application is made, it is rigorously researched and checked, but we should be open-minded about whether any further control is required.”

MPs are currently considering whether to tighten shotgun licensing laws to bring them into line with restrictions on rifles.

Mr Swinney continued: “I look at what’s happened in the United Kingdom since Dunblane and I think we should be very proud that we took the action that we took and we honoured the suffering of the families who lost children and the death also of Gwen Mayor, their teacher, in order to make sure that others did not suffer in the way that the people of Dunblane suffered.

“I think there’s a really powerful lesson for us all in that.”