[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 45 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Pages 1745-1746]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7049--National Day of Concern About Young People and Gun 
Violence, 1997

November 6, 1997

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    On this day in America, as on every other day, children will die by 
gunfire, and many of them will be killed because other children are 
pulling the trigger. This is a stark and sad reality and a call to each 
of us, not only to raise public awareness of a national tragedy, but 
also to do everything within our power to end the killing.
    There is some encouraging news. The Department of Justice recently 
reported that violent crime among youths dropped by more than 9 percent 
in 1996. However, we still have a long way to go in our efforts to save 
lives and help ensure a brighter future for our children.
    One of my Administration's highest law enforcement priorities is to 
protect our children from violent crime, and we are especially concerned 
with stopping crimes committed by young people. I am pleased that eight 
of the Nation's largest gun manufacturers have responded to my 
Administration's call to provide child safety lock devices with every 
handgun they sell. We proposed a $60 million increase for the Safe and 
Drug-Free Schools Program this year, which reaches almost all of our 
Nation's school districts. These funds will help communities protect 
students from violence. My Administration also proposed funding for 
after-school initiatives in communities across the country to give our 
young people something positive to say yes to, to keep them off the 
streets, and to keep them out of trouble. Through our Anti-Gang and 
Youth Violence Strategy, we are working to provide for more prosecutors 
and probation officers, tougher penalties, and better gang prevention 
efforts.
    But government alone cannot guarantee our children will grow up free 
from violence and fear. Parents, teachers, religious and community 
leaders, businesses, youth organizations, and especially young people 
themselves have a vital part to play. Parents and other adults must set 
a good example for the children in their care and teach them right from 
wrong. Adults who own a gun have a responsibility to keep that weapon 
out of the hands of our youth. Communities must unite to keep schools 
safe and to provide young people with positive, fulfilling activities 
after school and during summers and holidays. Most important, young 
people themselves have a duty to learn that violence solves nothing; to 
act responsibly when confronted by peer pressure by relying on their 
good judgment, and to encourage their friends and classmates to resolve 
conflicts peacefully.
    I am heartened by the knowledge that hundreds of thousands of young 
Americans across the country will have an opportunity on this National 
Day of Concern to sign the Student Pledge Against Gun Violence. By 
making this earnest promise never to take a gun to school, never to use 
a gun to settle a dispute, and to use their influence to keep their 
friends from using guns, these young people will take a giant step 
toward a brighter, safer future.
    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 November 
6, 1997, as a National Day of Concern About Young People and Gun 
Violence. On this day, I call upon young Americans in classrooms and 
communities across the country

[[Page 1746]]

to make a solemn decision about their future by signing the Student 
Pledge Against Gun Violence. I further urge all Americans to help our 
Nation's young people avoid violence and grow up to be healthy, happy, 
productive adults.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of 
November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-second.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., November 10, 
1997]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
November 12.