[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 196 (Friday, October 9, 1998)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 54551-54552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-27485]
[[Page 54549]]
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Part V
The President
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Proclamation 7134--National Day of Concern About Young People and Gun
Violence, 1998
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 196 / Friday, October 9, 1998 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 54551]]
Proclamation 7134 of October 7, 1998
National Day of Concern About Young People and
Gun Violence, 1998
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
During the past 18 months, Americans have been stunned
by gun violence among our youth, including the tragic
incidents of students shooting their classmates and
teachers in Jonesboro, Arkansas; Pearl, Mississippi;
Paducah, Kentucky; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; and
Springfield, Oregon. In communities across the country,
some young people are trying to resolve their conflicts
and problems by taking a gun into their schools or onto
the streets--guns that, although they are generally
illegal for children to possess, are still too easy to
get.
While recent data indicate that the overwhelming
majority of American schools are safe and that the rate
of youth violence is beginning to decline, we must not
relax our efforts to protect our children from such
violence. Since the beginning of my Administration, we
have worked hard to make our schools and communities
safe places for children to learn and grow. We have put
more community police in our neighborhoods, encouraged
the use of curfews, school uniforms, and tough truancy
policies, and proposed funding for after-school
programs that provide children and young people with
wholesome activities that keep them interested,
engaged, and off the streets. We instituted a policy of
zero tolerance for guns in schools that is now the law
in all 50 States. We have issued a guidebook to help
teachers, principals, and parents recognize the early
warning signs of troubled students and intervene before
despair or anger gives way to violence. Later this
month, I will host the first-ever White House
Conference on School Safety to focus on the causes and
prevention of youth violence and to share effective
strategies that we can put into practice nationwide.
Through these and many other measures, we have strived
to protect America's youth from being either the
perpetrators or the victims of gun violence.
While government can and must be an active partner in
the effort to prevent youth violence, the real key to
ending the killing is in the hands of young Americans
themselves. Every young person must assume personal
responsibility for avoiding violent confrontation, have
the strength of character to walk away from a dispute
before it turns deadly, and have the courage and common
sense to refuse to participate in gang activities, to
use drugs, or to carry or use a gun.
As part of our nationwide observance of National Day of
Concern About Young People and Gun Violence, I urge
students across America to voluntarily sign a ``Student
Pledge Against Gun Violence'' as an acknowledgment of
these responsibilities. This pledge is a solemn promise
by young people never to bring a gun to school, never
to use a gun to settle a dispute, and to discourage
their friends from using guns. By keeping this promise
and giving one another the chance to grow to healthy,
productive adulthood, young Americans will be taking an
enormous step toward a stronger, safer future for
themselves and our Nation.
[[Page 54552]]
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim October 8, 1998, as a
National Day of Concern About Young People and Gun
Violence. On this day, I call upon all Americans to
commit themselves anew to helping our young people
avoid violence, to setting a good example, and to
restoring our schools and neighborhoods as safe havens
for learning and recreation.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
nineteen hundred and ninety-eight, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two
hundred and twenty-third.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 98-27485
Filed 10-8-98; 11:39 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P
