Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe is facing significant criticism after stating that the Dunblane massacre involved 'one murder,' a comment made while he was discussing firearms legislation with podcaster Joe Rogan. The incident, which occurred on March 13, 1996, at Dunblane Primary School, resulted in the deaths of 16 children and their teacher, with an additional 15 children and three adults injured before the gunman, Thomas Hamilton, died by suicide. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in British history.
Lowe's remarks, in which he stated that handguns were banned in the UK 'because there was a murder up in Dunblane' and responded with 'One murder?' when questioned by Rogan, have drawn sharp condemnation. He also suggested that current gun licensing laws make sports like hunting very difficult and called for radical societal change. Lowe, who was 38 at the time of the 1996 massacre, argued that his father's pistols, used for sport shooting at Oxford University, were confiscated.
Politicians and public figures have expressed outrage over Lowe's characterization of the event. Scottish Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr described the comments as 'shocking' and 'deeply insulting,' emphasizing that 'Sixteen kids and their teacher were murdered. Fifteen other primary school children were wounded.' Kerr recounted the impact of the event on his own children's school and criticized Lowe's tone as one of 'disbelief, even mockery.'
SNP MSP for Clackmannanshire and Dunblane Keith Brown called Lowe's remarks 'beyond despicable,' highlighting the loss of 16 children and a teacher, and the wounding of 15 other children. Brown credited the 'Snowdrop Campaign,' initiated by bereaved families and the local community in the aftermath, for leading to the ban on private ownership of most handguns. He stated that the community would not allow such a legacy to be betrayed.
The Dunblane massacre was a pivotal event that led to the implementation of some of the world's strictest firearms legislation in the UK. In response to the tragedy and subsequent public campaigning, the Conservative government introduced a ban on most handguns in 1997, followed by legislation under the Labour government that expanded the ban to include all cartridge ammunition handguns later that same year.