DUNBLANE, Scotland — Thousands of miles from Newtown, Conn., a lone gunman walked into the elementary school of this Scottish town and murdered 16 children aged 5 and 6 along with their teacher.

That was 17 years ago, but memories of the incident, which led to a total ban on the private ownership of handguns in the U.K., are still raw in Dunblane.

Full coverage of the Connecticut school shooting

"Any shooting is tragic, but this one because of the age and because of the place is a painful reminder. I can picture myself waiting for the news and I can remember how I reacted."

When there are so many victims, so young, parents find comfort in each other, he said.  

Keir Simmons / NBC News

A memorial to the children of Dunblane.

"I can also remember the strength that we gained by meeting with the families," North added. "We found that we could say things in front of the other families that we could not say even to our closest friends, even to our relatives."

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Steve Birnie's son was injured in the shooting.  For him the challenge was to bring up his child amid such heartache.

"All we could do with our kids was be open and answer their questions as honestly as possible," Birnie said.

What happened was hard to comprehend, never mind explain: In March 1996, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton entered Dunblane Primary School and shot more than a dozen children and a teacher.  After the murders, Hamilton killed himself. Tennis star Andy Murray, who won two Olympic medals and the U.S. Open this year, was among the children at school that day.  

The country reacted with revulsion and in 1997 laws were passed that essentially made private handgun ownership illegal throughout the United Kingdom. 

'The dreadful void'
Birnie now runs a young people's center, set up with money donated after the shooting. It was intended to provide some normality for children who had seen their community ripped apart. 

This week, members of the community lit candles at the center for the Newtown victims.  A condolence book is filling up with messages. 

Colin McIntosh, minister of Dunblane Cathedral, said he would never forget the week of funerals. He found himself burying children he had baptized.

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"The week of funerals comes to an end and then the dreadful void," he told NBC News. "What happens now? What are we supposed to do? No one has an answer to that question."

One thing the families did was campaign for more restrictions on guns. 

David Moir / Reuters

A memorial plate with the names of the 1996 Dunblane Primary School shooting victims.

"It wasn't difficult in the U.K. because there were so many people who felt similar," North said. "When families built up enough strength we organised the campaign."

"Had it not been for the parents, handguns would still be legal," ex-police officer Munn added.  "It was the parents that changed it. It was people power."

But it's important not to lose focus on the families and the shock and pain they are feeling, McIntosh said.

"I hesitate at this very early stage for people who are going through traumatic experience to say, 'Yes, you will recover; yes, you will get over this.' But they will, there will be a future, there is hope."

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In a message to Newtown, posted on the cathedral website, he said: "We do not understand a world in which such things can happen. All we can say from experience is that God is not absent in those moments when the worst happens.

"Words themselves seem so inadequate, but we in Dunblane will continue to remember you in our prayers. "

Even after all these years, talking about what happened is difficult for many in Dunblane. But they spoke this week in the hope that it might help those going through the same in Newtown.

"I want to send my sympathy and love," North said.  "Our lives have changed forever, but I want to reassure you that there will be positive things that will come eventually. I can't and will never forget what happened, and it takes time, but strength can come from various places."

Every community is different and will find it's own ways of coping they say.

"We offer our support," Birnie added. "Dunblane has come through it and I hope Newtown will, too."

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NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The outpouring of shock and grief from around the world over the horrific events in this picturesque New England town has given way to another widely felt, powerful emotion: the urge to support the shattered families of the victims.   

“I just had a lady call from Montana,” said Scudder Smith, publisher of the Newtown Bee, the local paper. "She said she’s going to send me a box of bears to distribute when the time is right so the kids can hug some bears.”

As details of Friday’s mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary continue to unfold, residents remain stunned by the mayhem unleashed by a lone gunman. On Saturday, authorities disclosed the names of the 12 girls, eight boys and six adult women who were killed in the nation's second-worst school shooting. 

The scope of the tragedy has been matched by a torrent of offers to help.

Since just hours after the massacre, local churches and social service agencies have been besieged with phone calls and emails from around the country and the world -- as far away as Taiwan, Australia and West Africa. Some callers express a sense of powerlessness in trying to help shattered families rebuild their lives, along with a bewilderment in trying to know what to do.

Leo McIlrath, chaplain at the Lutheran Home of Southbury, said one way to support the wounded community is to “pray from a distance.”

“That’s more powerful than anything they can do up close - including providing food or shelter," he said. "We do all that already in this community. We don’t need people to put something in a box, I don’t think, and send it here. We need to be as of one mind and one heart and one spirit. And I feel that’s coming across.”

Slideshow: Connecticut school massacre

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

The second deadliest school shooting in U.S. history sent crying children spilling into the school parking lot as frightened parents waited for word on their loved ones.

Launch slideshow

The outpouring of global grief has generated a flood of offers of financial contributions, according to Newtown Savings Bank President John Trentacosta.

“We’ve been hearing from people all over the country asking how they can help and what they can do to support he families,” he said. “This all happened so quickly.”

In response, several groups have set up websites to accept contributions, including a joint effort between Newtown Savings and the United Way of Western Connecticut. The Sandy Hook School Support Fund is accepting donations via the Web, or by check mailed to Sandy Hook School Support Fund, Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main St., Newtown CT 06470. Donations are also being accepted at the bank's local branches.

Local residents have also taken up the cause. Neighbors and friends have been preparing meals for the bereaved families, and counseling agencies have tapped an influx of volunteers to help cope with the psychological trauma.   

Santas for Sandy Hook
Clad in Santa caps and armed with a handwritten "Santas for Sandy Hook" sign, Zoe Walter, 21, her sister and a friend stood outside a local coffee and donuts shop Saturday asking for donations to the newly created support fund.

As she briefly silenced her handbell, Walter said she was shaken by the killings.

"I just want them to know that we care and we're here, and we'll do anything that we can (to) help," said Walter, a college student, as she broke down in tears. "I just want them to know that we're thinking about them."

At New Hope Community Church, pastor Jim Solomon has been fielding calls since shortly after the Friday morning tragedy.

“We’ve been getting what seems like literally thousands of inquiries,” he said. “I’m touched by the level of support not only from all around our nation but from around the world. They want to do something practical.”

In response, Solomon has also set up a fund on the church’s Web site, asking contributors for suggestions on how the money should be spent.

Antonio Lacerda / EPA

A woman puts some flowers next to crosses on Copacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro. Brazil, on Saturday as a tribute to the shooting victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

“If they indicate what the funds are for, the church treasurer is going to dispense those funds to help each of the particular families,” he said. “We’re going to use that money to help each family with food or funeral and memorial services, burial expenses or any other needs so we can help them in a very practical way."

Solomon, a counselor, is also a board member at Newtown Youth and Family Services, which is offering free counseling to victims’ families and other residents.

In the aftermath of natural disasters, communities often see an influx of donated food, clothing and other emergency supplies. Local clergy say the school shooting in Newtown was a very different type of disaster, calling for a very different response.

“There’s an awful lot to just knowing that people care,” said Rev. Raymond Petrucci, a chaplain at nearby Danbury Hospital. “If there’s any way people can communicate through the public media or whatever forms of saying, ‘We truly are supporting and praying for you hoping for you,’ that type of emotional support - especially for that community, it’s already close-knit - is the most appropriate way of approaching this.”

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

Gun control supporters take part in a candlelight vigil at Lafayette Square across from the White House on Saturday.

In a world awash in social media, grief also flowed online.

On Twitter, the #Newtown hashtag emerged almost immediately, promptly flooded with emotional outpouring and soon began trending. On Google+, many gathered around the topic "Sandy Hook" for consolation. Facebook users created multiple pages to share news and prayers with friends.

Reddit users inundated the Connecticut subreddit with fundraising initiatives, local news, and opportunities to "vent your fears, anger, frustration and anything else." By midday Saturday, the local NewtownPatch had drawn more than 500 “I want to help” comments on a page devoted to supporting local residents.

In Newtown, some people are showing their support just by showing up.

At a Friday night vigil at St. Rose of Lima church, the crowd spilled out into the freezing weather, trying to make sense of the tragedy. Another townwide vigil is planned for Sunday night at Newtown High School.

Arshad / Zuma Press

Pakistani children light candles to pay tribute to U.S. elementary school shooting victims in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi.

“I know people will be coming from out of town,” said McIlrath. “There using the high school because there is no church big enough.”

McIlrath, who plans to speak at the service, was still working out what he wants to say.    

“I heard a lot of people say the joy is gone,” said McIlrath. “I want to say, ‘No, the joy isn’t stolen from us - no more than Grinch stole Christmas. Death isn’t going to steal the joy out of this community.”

NBC's Miranda Leitsinger and Rosa Golijan contributed to this report.

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