ROYAL Marines have been banned from taking their unloaded guns into a primary school classroom as part of an annual visit to honour a fallen comrade.

Parents at Dunbeg and Rockfield primary schools in Oban received a letter about the visit, leaving them free to decide whether to allow their children to attend.

The marines visit the two schools regularly, in memory of local man Gordon MacPherson, a Royal Marine who was killed in action during the the Falklands conflict.

But as the marines were preparing to give a talk to pupils about their work and show them their weapons and other kit, they were told the council had decided the guns would not be allowed into the school after a complaint.

Now councillors are calling for an investigation into the incident as it is against normal local authority policy.

Argyll and Bute Council’s depute provost, councillor Roddy McCuish, said: “I am extremely disappointed in the actions that have been taken.

“Given that the Royal Marines do what they do, you would expect them to have weapons with them. There is no live ammunition, they are highly trained professionals and it’s the tools of their trade.

“If you go to an airport, or a train station, you will see armed police in Scotland so I don’t see the difference.

“As I understand it, there was one complaint.

“Of course you take people’s concerns seriously but the majority of people I have spoken to don’t seem to have any concerns over this, I am disappointed that there was this knee-jerk reaction.”

Fellow councillor Jamie McGrigor, said the marines should never have been asked to leave their weapons outside without a policy change being agreed by councillors.

He said: “I am horrified by this. If I had been asked I would have put my faith in the professionalism of the Royal Marines.

“I think this is an example of the nanny state and political correctness undoing what has become a tradition in Dunbeg, in memory of one of their brave sons who died in the Falklands.

“I will be investigating further as to who gave instructions for the weapons to be left outside.”

Councillor Donald Kelly added: “It’s pointless putting the marines in without showing the tools they use to do their job, it’s giving the children a false impression of what the job is.

“The kids are well aware of weapons, the world has gone mad, it’s getting too politically sensitive.”

The Royal Marines said they could not comment on the council’s stance on the weapons, as that was a decision for the local authority and they had merely respected its request.

However, Captain Andy Bryce, Adjutant at 45 Commando Group said: “The Oban School visit is an annual event held in memory of Marine Gordon MacPherson, who was killed in action in the Falklands.

“The Royal Marines spoke to the children about life in the military and gave presentations on current equipment, rations and the Corps in general.”

He added that the MacPherson family raise a lot of money for the Help our Wounded organisation.

As a thanks for Tuesday’s visit, Mr MacPherson’s sister-in-law has arranged to send a cheque for £5,000 for the Woodlands Garden Trust, which supports the Remembrance Garden at Royal Marines Condor base in Arbroath.

Argyll and Bute Council declined to say who made the decision not to allow weapons in to the schools and why.

A council spokesman said: “The school visits were a great success and we would like to thank the Royal Marines.”

The Herald:

ANALYSIS: Scottish pupils see more of the military per capita than rest of the UK

RESEARCH suggests Scottish schools receive a disproportionately high level of military visits compared to other parts of the UK.

Only one-third are overtly about careers, with the rest ostensibly related to education, team building and physical fitness In 2013, a Commons parliamentary answer revealed Scotland accounted for 11.2 per cent of armed forces school visits in 2011-12, far higher than its 8.4 per cent of the UK population.

In addition, between 2010 and 2012, 83 per cent of Scottish state secondaries were visited at least once, with 31 visited more than 10 times, and six visited more than six times.

Edinburgh and Fife were the most highly-visited council areas.

However, there was no evidence that schools in more deprived areas were prioritised.

MSPS are currently investigation the presence of the armed forces in Scotland’s schools after an outcry over plans to set up cadet units aimed at the poorest pupils.

Peace campaigners lodged a public petition at Holyrood last year calling for a probe into the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force visiting schools with an eye to recruitment.

The petitioners – the ForcesWatch group and Quakers in Scotland – fear creeping militarism in schools is promoting the forces to children who have little understanding of the consequences of signing up.

With the armed forces struggling to fill their ranks, the UK Government launched a £50 million programme to deliver 500 in-school cadet units across the UK by 2020, with “less affluent” areas being prioritised.

Open to pupils aged 13 to 18, the Combined Cadet Force scheme is based on a partnership between schools, adult volunteers and the Ministry of Defence.

Pupils can sign up for military training aged 15 years and seven months, but need parental permission to do so.

With around 100 units recently established in England, and many more already in place in private schools, the UK Government needs 145 more state cadet units to hit its target.

It turned its attention to Scotland’s 360 secondaries to help make up the numbers, but the move was blocked by the Scottish Government.