March Dunblane supports rally in US
Dunblane victim’s sister speaks out
Relatives of the victims of the Dunblane massacre gathered yesterday to show support for those demanding greater gun control in the US.
Hundreds gathered at the US Consulate in Edinburgh as a massive march took place in Washington DC.
March For Our Lives began when survivors of last month’s school shooting in Florida called for politicians to ban the sale of assault weapons.
A gunman shot dead 17 pupils and staff at Mar jory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
In Edinburgh, Catherine Wilson, whose sister Mhairi was one of 16 children killed in their primar y school in Dunblane in 1996, said she would fight for change with the American students because they were at breaking point.
In her powerful address, she said: “I think we’re at the point where the generation that I am part of and the younger generation who are at school have seen so many school shootings in their lifetime.
“They have grown up in the shadow of school shootings and they are the point where they just cannot take it any more.
“I don’t understand why the freedom to own a gun is seen as more important than seeing your grandchildren grow up, or feeling safe when you watch a film in the cinema, or being able to go to the park. “I don’t understand what is so precious about your guns that i s mor e pre c ious than human life.” Other speakers included Jack and Ellie Crozier, whose sister Emma died in Dunblane, and Ali Ross, whose sister Joanna was killed. They read a letter of support to those affected by the Parkland tragedy which said: “Wherever you march, whenever you protest , however you campaign, we will be there with you in spirit.”
Ali also read out a message from Mick North, who lost his daughter Sophie in the massacre.
He said: “If the USA really wants to turn its thoughts, tears and prayers after each mass shooting into something positive, it has to deal with the easy availability of firearms.”
Strict gun control laws were put in place in the UK af ter the Dunblane attack and there has not been another school shooting since.
The demonstration was one of more than 800 events taking place around the world as part of the March For Our Lives movement.
In Washington, survivors of the attack were joined by celebrities including Paul McCartney and George and Amal Clooney.
About 500,000 people gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue near the US Capitol to plead for a change in the law on gun ownership.
Sarah Chadwick, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas pupil, said: “We will no longer be hunted down and treated like prey by politicians who simply just don’t care about us.
“We’ve been f ighting since Columbine, since Sandy Hook, since Pulse, since Las Vegas.
“And we will continue to fight until we put a stop to gun violence in America.”