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 laws, 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 handguns.