Rupert Lowe dismisses Dunblane school massacre as ‘one murder’

Rupert Lowe has sparked anger after referring to the Dunblane school massacre as “one murder”.

The leader of Restore Britain made the remark during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.  

His comments have been described as “insulting” and “despicable” by local politicians.

In March 1996, 16 children, aged five and six, and their teacher Gwen Mayor were shot dead by Thomas Hamilton in the gym hall of Dunblane Primary School, in what is still the deadliest mass shooting ever in the UK. A further 15 children and three adults were wounded, and Hamilton turned the gun on himself.  

The MP for Great Yarmouth made the comment when speaking on legislation to ban handguns that was introduced following the massacre.

He said: “They don't want the public to have guns, and they are doing their very best to damage the shooters who perfectly and legitimately like to go and shoot clay pigeons, who like to go and shoot game, who like to go and hunt.

“Effectively, they are trying to make that very difficult through the licensing laws for guns.

“As you probably know, they banned handguns in the late 90s because there was a murder up in Dunblane.”

Joe Rogan asks: “One murder?”

Lowe replies: “One murder.”

He added: “My father used to shoot pistols for Oxford University, he’s dead now, bless him, but he had all his pistols taken away, the pistols he used to shoot with at Oxford University. I mean, we now have a society that needs radical change.”

Conservative MSP Stephen Kerr has described Lowe’s comments as “genuinely shocking” and that “to reduce that atrocity to ‘one murder’ is deeply insulting”.

Posting on X, he said his children’s school, which was “about 15 minutes from Dunblane”, was locked down that day.  

“They’ll never forget being kept in the gym hall until everyone learned the gunman was dead. They’ll never forget the teachers trying to hold themselves together while reassuring frightened children,” he said.

Kerr added: “It wasn’t a single murder. It was a mass murder. In a primary school.  

“Almost as disturbing was the tone – one of disbelief, even mockery, that anyone could respond by tightening gun laws.  

“This wasn’t some obscure historical event. It happened in 1996, when Lowe was 38 years old. He should have known what happened on that terrifying day in Dunblane.  

“For anyone who remembers that day, hearing it dismissed so casually is genuinely shocking.”

The SNP depute leader and MSP for Dunblane, Keith Brown, described Lowe’s comments as “beyond despicable”.

He added: “Despite these hideous remarks from Rupert Lowe, the Snowdrop Campaign that followed that terrible day ensured a ban on the private ownership of most handguns – that is the proud legacy of the bereaved families and the local community.  

“Their courage and determination in the aftermath of the attack is something we should never betray and our community will never let the likes of Rupert Lowe do exactly that.”

The Snowdrop Petition calling for tighter gun laws that followed the massacre was signed more than 750,000 times, and along with the Cullen Inquiry, led to the ban on private ownership of higher-calibre handguns in 1997. The ban was then extended to .22 handguns later that year.

Chris Kane MP for Stirling & Strathallan raised a point of order in the House of Commons following Lowe's comments.

He said: “To describe the Dunblane massacre as 'one murder' diminishes the murder of sixteen children and their teacher, and the suffering of everyone whose lives were changed forever in March 1996.

“The people of Dunblane responded not with division, but with dignity, compassion and a determination that no other community should endure such horror. It is because of their courage, and the united action of this House, that the United Kingdom has some of the strongest firearms laws in the world and an ongoing cross party approach to ensuring those protections will not be weakened.”

Kane has also issued a statement on social media. He said: “Like most reasonable people, my initial reaction to Rupert Lowe’s comments was one of fury and disbelief. However, unlike Mr Lowe, many of us have thankfully chosen to take the lead of the courageous parents and families forever touched by the Dunblane tragedy and from the community that I am both proud and humbled to represent.

“They have conducted themselves with dignity, with a desire to unite people rather than to divide them, and in the hope that generations to come will be protected in a way that 16 – yes sixteen, not one - innocent five and six year olds and their teacher Mrs Mayor were not. Families across our country have children and grandchildren in our schools today who are alive because of that kind of selflessness and the determination that something positive would come from unimaginable evil.

“Mere words can never describe the sort of darkness that was visited upon Dunblane Primary School and our nation on March 13, 1996. Many people on that terrible day and since have lived with a kind of acute consciousness and pain that should never be visited on any human soul. The least the rest of us can do is to ensure that is forever acknowledged and honoured.

“Mr Lowe’s attitude does not reflect the sort of thoughtful society the vast majority of our nation and its people wish to have and which has been displayed day in and day out in my constituency for over 30 years. We can all learn something from the example of the good people and families of Dunblane. We can only hope that one day that includes Mr Lowe.”

A Restore Britain spokesperson said: “Rupert was clearly referring to one incident.”