Dunblane family meets Parkland relatives
- Published
Alison and Jack Crozier met Parkland students Nikhita Nookola and Christy Ma
The family of a Dunblane shooting victim have visited Florida to support relatives and friends of those killed in the Parkland high school tragedy.
Emma Crozier was one of 16 children who were shot dead by Thomas Hamilton in the 1996 primary school massacre.
Her mother Alison and brother Jack travelled to the US to speak about the Snowdrop campaign that led to a ban of private handgun ownership in the UK.
They said they hoped something similar would happen in the US.
Seventeen people were killed and many more injured in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in February.
Students at the school have since been campaigning for tougher gun laws, and inspired the March for Our Lives protests that were held across the US and around the world.
On their trip to Florida, which was organised by radio station LBC, external, Mrs Crozier and her son met Gary Dworet and Vivien D'Addario, the uncle and aunt of 17-year-old victim Nicholas Dworet.
Mr Crozier said: "The most important thing is that something positive comes out of something that is so terrible.
"Something positive happened after Dunblane. We changed everything and that's what we hope can happen here as well."
He urged campaigners to speak with one voice to oppose the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), the powerful gun lobby group.
"In the UK we had one voice, it was the Snowdrop Campaign, it was the gun control network," he said.
Speaking about the loss of her daughter at Dunblane, Mrs Crozier told the family: "It's always there but you can live out with it. That's where the positivity is that we do want to give you.
"We are 22 years down the line. There's always this hole in your life. The first year is just a blur. You do it day-by-day."
Seventeen people died in February's Stoneman Douglas shooting
They also met students and campaigners Nikhita Nookola and Christy Ma, who both lost friends in February's shooting, and with Congressman Ted Deutch, who has been campaigning for gun control.
Ms Nookola told them: "It's so incredible that you guys came all the way from Scotland to support us.
"You're just a living example of what we can do and how people have the power in government."
Survivors and relatives of the Dunblane tragedy recently sent a video message to students affected by the Parkland school shooting
The Florida trip is the latest move by Dunblane relatives to support Parkland families, students and campaigners.
Ten family members of victims and survivors recorded a video message entitled Dunblane Stands With Parkland, while several relatives, including Mr Crozier, spoke at a rally for US gun control in Edinburgh last month.
The event was one of several hundred held across the globe in support of the March for our Lives campaign which emerged in the wake of the Parkland shooting.