"...in just a few months, a petition drive throughout their nation collected 705,000 signatures urging that handguns, already tightly restricted, be outlawed entirely. The Snowdrop campaign was named for the tiny, fragile flower that is the only bloom in season in Scotland during March. It faced opposition, certainly, with some members of Parliament arguing in part that a ban would prevent Britons from participating in shooting competitions. But less than 18 months later, the government prohibited the possession of all handguns in Britain. The law is one of the strictest gun-control measures in the world.... Each was but 5 years old that Wednesday morning when Thomas Hamilton, 43, walked into their school. The former Scout leader bore grudges in abundance, and he felt most slighted by townspeople he thought had hampered his efforts to run local boys clubs. In the gymnasium he found 29 pupils. In mere minutes, with two Browning semiautomatic pistols for which he held legal licenses, he fired 105 rounds. Only one child was not hit. Ultimately, 12 lived. Hamilton committed suicide."