Brady Campaign Praises Student Pledge Against Gun Violence for Their Day of National Concern

Today, students across America are observing the Day of National
Concern about Young People and Gun Violence by signing the "Student
Pledge Against Gun Violence".

"The Student Pledge is an invaluable tool to reach young people and
educate them about preventing gun violence," said Paul Helmke,
President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "The Brady
Campaign salutes all students who take the pledge, and help make our
schools and communities safer."

In 1996, the United States Senate passed a resolution proclaiming the
first "Day of National Concern", followed by a Presidential
Proclamation by President Bill Clinton. Since then, more than ten
million young people have signed the pledge.

The pledge reads:

• I will never bring a gun to school.

• I will never use a gun to settle a personal problem or dispute.

• I will use my influence with my friends to keep them from using guns to settle disputes.

• My individual choices and actions, when multiplied by
  those of young people throughout the country, will make a difference.
  Together, by honoring this pledge, we can reverse the violence and grow
  up in safety.

"National distribution of the Student Pledge sends a message that is
essential if we are to reverse the tide of violence in this country:
that violence is neither inevitable nor an abstract force against which
we are powerless," reads the mission statement of the Student Pledge.
"Violence is, rather, the sum total of individual decisions, and
reversing the violence will occur individual decision by individual
decision."

More information is available online at www.pledge.org.