SCOTS film star Sean Connery is backing the Snowdrop campaign for a total ban on handguns, it was revealed yesterday.
The voice of the former James Bond will be featured in a 40-second commercial in a new and intensfied phase of the campaign, which began after the Dunblane massacre.
The tragedy has already led to legislation which bans handguns bigger than .22 calibre, and .22 guns must be kept at a secure gun club.
Snowdrop is demanding a total ban and will launch its latest drive on Monday, at the National Theatre on London's South Bank.
Dunblane parents and teachers Eileen Harrild and Mary Blake, who were both injured in the outrage perpetrated by Thomas Hamilton, will be present.
Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that a worker facing redundancy from a rifle range used by Hamilton has applied for cash from funds set up in the wake of the tragedy.
Mr Harry Tomlinson, 33, said the funds were set up to help people affected by the tragedy and that what happened at Dunblane was the only reason the range was closing. He said he must be able to provide for his family when he loses his job in a few weeks.
However, Mrs Ann Pearston, of the Snowdrop campaign, said there would be a public outcry if he was given money.
She said members of the public had donated money thinking it would be given to the families of those injured and killed in the massacre.
''This man will no doubt receive some redundancy money, some state benefits, and possibly get another job. The people who are invloved in the tragedy will have to cope with it for the rest of their lives.''
Mr Tomlinson, who sets up targets and helps maintain Whiteston Rifle Range, near Dunblane, denied that his application in the week of the anniversary of the shootings was insensitive.
The father-of-three from Stirling said: ''I am not being callous. I know people lost their children and that's terrible. I have three children of my own but I am about to lose my job and won't be able to provide for my family.''
A spokesman for the Stirling Observer Trust Fund, set up to help those directly affected by the tragedy and the general community, said trustees had not yet discussed Mr Tomlinson's application.
A spokesman for the Dunblane Fund, also set up after the tragedy, refused to commment on individual cases but said it was aware of the application.
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