'SILENT MARCH' PLANNED TO PROTEST GUN VIOLENCE

September 4, 1996

Media Contacts: Sarah Goodwin, 404/727-3366 - sgoodwi@emory.edu
Kathi Ovnic, 404/727-9371 - covnic@emory.edu

M E D I A A D V I S O RY

*WHAT:*	*SILENT MARCH: Americans Against Gun Violence*
	1,338 pairs of shoes representing the 1,338 gun-related deaths that occurred in Georgia in 1993 (the latest year for which statistics are available) will be publicly displayed on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol.

*WHO:*	Sponsored by Georgia 1996 Silent March Committee; Georgia coordinator is Bernadette Leite, founder of Kids Alive & Loved and staff member, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

*WHEN:*	Sunday, Sept. 15 from 3:30-6 p.m.

*WHERE:*	Steps of the Georgia State Capitol (Washington Street side), 206 Washington St., Atlanta

*WHY:*	"An important initiative is taking place in our community and state," says Ms. Leite, who lost her 17-year-old son, Khalil, to gun violence. "The event is called the 'Silent March: Americans Against Gun Violence'. It is a grass roots call-to-action to prevent the epidemic of gun violence that claims 40,000 lives each year, and injures many more. Americans in every state are again sending their shoes to Washington, D.C., for a Sept. 30 'Silent March' demanding better prevention of gun violence."

In Georgia, citizens are collecting 1,338 pairs of shoes representing the number of gun-related deaths in 1993 -- this statistic includes 596 homicides, 658 suicides and 61 accidental firearm deaths. The Georgia 1996 Silent March Committee has collected shoes and others will be brought to the Capitol Sept. 15. Some of the shoes have pictures attached; others have letters from individuals stating how they have been affected by gun violence.

The shoes will be publicly displayed on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol "so the media and people of Georgia can witness the human toll taken by guns," Ms. Leite says. The shoes will then be sent to Washington, D.C., for a massive Sept. 30 display and protest calling for stronger regulation of firearms. Afterwards, all the shoes will be donated to charity.

The Silent March is a registered, nonprofit organization and does not support specific legislation. Among the Georgia organizations working on this effort are the following:

Kids Alive and Loved (KAL)

VICTORY OVER VIOLENCE

Action Americans Murder Must End Now (AAMMEN)

Georgia Council on Child Abuse

Georgians for Children

Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (SPAN)

Georgians United Against Violence (GUAV)

The Atlanta/Fulton Commission on Children and Youth

Grieving Relatives in Every Violent Event (GRIEVE)

New World Society

Define the Violence -- Tears of Love Left (DTV-TOLL)

Silent Tears

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

SCLC/W.O.M.E.N.

For further information, contact Bernadette Leite, Georgia coordinator, at 404/727-4437 or 404/401-7050.

For more general information on The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center, call Health Sciences News and Information at 404-727-5686, or send e-mail to hsnews@emory.edu.