[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
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  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 196 / Friday, October 9, 1998 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 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