In the Scottish town of Dunblane, the Snowdrop carpet of white petals marks not just a new season but also the anniversary of a school shooting that led to an immediate change in gun law, NBC News reported.
Twenty years ago this Sunday, a local gun owner walked into the town's elementary school and fatally shot 16 first-graders and their teacher before killing himself.
Pictures of anguished parents running through the streets for news of their children deepened public outrage, and a crusade to tighten controls won widespread support.
The "Snowdrop Campaign," which took its name from the only spring flower in bloom at the time of the massacre, resulted in a ban on all private hand-guns.
That response contrasts with the inertia surrounding efforts to tighten gun controls in the United States, where public opinion remains much more divided on whether such changes are necessary.
It puzzles some of the Dunblane families, for whom shootings such as the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut bring back painful memories.
