Over 54,000 South Carolina Students to Pledge Against Gun Violence

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins announced that today, Wednesday, October 21, 2008, members of the U. S. Attorney's Office and their law enforcement partners will meet with students across South Carolina as part of the 8th Annual Student Pledge Against Gun Violence. Middle and high school students will sign a voluntary pledge promising that they will never take a gun to school, will never resolve a dispute with a gun, and will use their influence to prevent friends from using guns to resolve disputes. Elementary school children will make a simpler commitment, pledging that if they see a gun they will not touch it, they will assume that any gun they see might be loaded and they will tell a teacher or a trusted adult.

The effort is part of South Carolina’s Project Cease Fire and the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, federal programs aimed at reducing gun violence. The Student Pledge Against Gun Violence is a national program that recognizes the role that young people, through their own decisions, can play in reducing gun violence. This campaign against youth gun violence culminates each October in a Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence. The program provides a means for beginning the conversation with young people about gun violence. Students from around the country will join together in pledging to do their part to end gun violence. Last year more than three million students nationwide signed the pledge.

Mr. Wilkins said that the response to the pledge campaign has been tremendous, with over 54,000 students from 116 schools across the state agreeing to take part. “I’m encouraged with the interest and support of this campaign by our educators and students across the state. We in law enforcement hope that this effort will make a lasting impression on participating students, and that they will avoid and reject gun violence,” stated Mr. Wilkins.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is working with law enforcement agencies throughout the state to make the pledges available to the schools. In addition to providing the pledges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is coordinating with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to provide speakers to go out to schools across the South Carolina and talk to students about what they can do to reduce gun violence.

The following South Carolina schools and law enforcement agencies are participating in this year’s pledge on October 21st. For information on events scheduled for a particular school, please contact that school or law enforcement agency. For additional information concerning the national pledge, visit the national Student Pledge web site at www.pledge.org.

Participating Law Enforcement Agencies

Allendale County Sheriff's Department
Anderson County Sheriff's Office
Barnwell County Sheriff's Office
Beaufort County Police Department
Beaufort County Sheriff's Department
Bennettsville Police Department
Cayce Police Department
Charleston County Sheriff's Office
Charleston Police Department
Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office
City of Charleston City of Conway Police Department
Colleton County Sheriff's Department
Columbia Police Department
Cottageville Police Department
Coward Police Department
Darlington Police Department
Dorchester County Sheriff's Department
Florence County Sheriff's Department
Florence Police Department
Greenville County Sheriff's Office
Greenwood Police Department
Hartsville Police Department
Horry County Police Department
Lake City Police Department
Laurens City Police Department
Lee County Sheriff's Department
Lexington County Sheriff's Department
Marion Police Department
Myrtle Beach Police Department
North Charleston Police Department
Olanta Town Police Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department
Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Pickens Police Department
Richland County Sheriff's Department
Rock Hill Police Department
Scranton Town Police Simpsonville Police Department
Spartanburg County Sheriff's Department
Sumter County Sheriff's Office
Sumter Police Department
Union County Sheriff's Office
Union Department of Public Safety
Walterboro Police Department
Williston Police Department
York County Sheriff's Department

Participating Schools

Alcorn Middle School, Columbia
Alice Drive Middle School, Sumter
Andrews Elementary School, Andrews
Angel Oak Elementary, John’s Island
Arden Elementary School, Columbia
Barnwell Primary School, Barnwell
Batesburg-Leesville High School, Batesburg-Leesville
Beaufort High School, Beaufort
Beech Hill Elementary, Summerville
Bell Street Middle School, Clinton
Bells Elementary School, Ruffin
Belton-Honea Path High, Honea Path
Blacksburg Middle School, Blacksburg
Brewington Academy, Sumter
Britton's Neck Elementary School, Gresham
Brockington Elementary Magnet School, Darlington
Byrd Elementary School, Graniteville
C.A. Johnson Preparatory Academy, Columbia
Cades Hebron Elementary School, Cades
Castle Heights Middle School, Rock Hill
Caughman Road Elementary School, Columbia
Cleveland Elementary, Spartanburg
Clinton High School, Clinton
Clover Middle School, Clover
Colleton Middle School, Walterboro
Conway Elementary School, Conway
Cope Area Career Center, Cope
Creek Bridge Middle/High School, Marion
Darlington High School , Darlington
Davis Elementary School for Technology, Cayce
Dewey L. Carter Elementary, Effingham
Daimond Hill Elementary School, Abbeville
Douglas Elementary School, Trenton
E.L. Frierson Elementary, Wadmalaw Island
East Elementary School, Dillon
Edisto Primary School, Cordova
Fairfax Elementary, Fairfax
Fair-Oak Elementary, Westminster
Florence Chapel Middle, Duncan
Forest Lake Elementary Technology Magnet School, Columbia
Foster Park Elementary, Union Gordon Elementary, Dillion
Great Falls Middle School, Great Falls
H.B. Rhame, Jr. Elementary School, Columbia
Hand Middle School, Columbia
Hannah-Pamplico elementary/Middle School, Pamplico
Hilton Head High School, Hilton Head Island
Hopkins Middle School, Hopkins
Hyatt Park Elementary School, Columbia
J.C. Lynch Elementary School, Coward
J.Paul Truluck Middle School, Lake City
J.K. Gourdin Elementary, Pineville
Jane Edwards Elementary, Edisto Island
Johnakin Middle School, Marion
Johnsonville Elementary School, Johnsonville
Jonesville Elementary/Middle School, Jonesville
Killian Elementary, Columbia
Kingstree Senior High, Kingstree
Lake City Elementary School, Lake City
Lancaster High, Lancaster
Lee Central Middle School, Bishopville
Lester Elementary, Florence
Liberty Elementary School, Liberty
Liberty Middle School, Liberty
Lincoln High School, McClellanville
Lockhart Schools, Lockhart
Logan Elementary School, Columbia
Lower Lee Elementary School, Mayesville
Main Street Elementary School, Lake City
Manchester Elementary School, Pinewood
Mary Ford Elementary, North Charleston
Maywood Middle School, Sumter
McColl Elementary/Middle School, McColl
McKissick Elementary School, Easley
Mellichamp Elementary School, Orangeburg
Memminger Elementary, Charleston
Middle School of Pacolet, Pacolet
Millwood Elementary School, Sumter
Mitchell Elementary School, Charleston
Mullins High School, Mullins
Nevitt Forest Elementary, Anderson
North Aiken Elementary, Aiken
North Charleston Elementary, N. Charleston
North Mullins Primary School, Mullins
Northwest Elementary, Gaffney
Oakbrook Middle, Summerville
Oakland Primary School, Sumter
Ocean Bay Middle School, Myrtle Beach
Pageland Elementary School, Pageland
Petersburg Primary School, Pageland
Pine Ridge Elementary, W. Columbia
Pine Tree Hill Elementary, Camden
Plantersville Elementary, Georgetown
R.H. Fulmer Middle School, West Columbia
Riverside Middle School, Pendleton
Riverview Elementary, Fort Mill
Robert Smalls Middle School, Burton
Ruby Elementary School, Ruby
Ruffin Middle, Ruffin
Saluda Elementary, Saluda
Saluda High School/Saluda Middle School, Saluda
Sanders Middle School, Laurens
South Elementary School, Dillion
South Pointe Christian School, Pageland
Southwood Middle, Anderson
St. John's Elementary School, Darlington
St. Stephen Elementary, St. Stephen
Tamassee-Salem Middle/High School, Salem
W M Anderson Primary School, Kingstree
West Lee Elementary School, Rembert
Whale Branch Middle, Seabrook
Whittemore Park Middle School, Conway
Wilder Elementary School, Sumter
Williams Middle, Florence

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