USA: REPUBLICANS AND PROTESTERS IN PHILADELPHIA

(29 Jul 2000) English/Nat XFA In the United States thousands of Republicans from all over the country have begun descending on the city of Philadelphia for their party's political convention. The convention, which begins on Monday, will see the formal confirmation of Texas governor George W. Bush as the Republican nominee for U-S President. The Republican faithful are also being joined by thousands of people with a different message. They're using the media attention generated by the convention to campaign on a number of issues. SUGGESTED VOICE OVER: The crowd moving down a Philadelphia street on Saturday morning was the most visible sign yet that the city will play host to more than convention-bound Republicans in the days ahead. A group of mainly women and children steadily marched in a silent protest. They'd come to Philadelphia to argue that America's lax gun laws have created a culture of violence -- and death. Some of were the mothers and fathers of children killed by guns. SOUNDBITE: (English): "That's right, but we're out here to make a difference....to let people know this is pain. Murder is painful. And it doesn't affect only us, it affects everyone." SUPER CAPTION: Jessie Snead, mother of gun victim. With hundreds of journalists converging on Philadelphia for the Republican convention, they knew this was their chance to be heard. The demonstrators blamed local and national leaders who they said were turning a deaf ear to the growing calls for tougher gun laws. SOUNDBITE: (English): "I'm very angry. I'm angry that our legislature was totally irresponsible in their response to people. The people that like closing the gun show loop- hole had anywhere from 90 to 95 - 94 - percent support among citizens and our legislature did nothing." SUPER CAPTION: Eileen McCarren, gun control advocate. To help make the point, the campaigners brought thousands of pairs of shoes, said to be those of victims of gun violence. But they were not alone. Not far away, another group set out a garden of some one-thousand U-S flags to herald their cause -- in favor of maintaining the right to bear arms -- as enshrined in the US constitution. They drew a mix of curious onlookers. And ended up in a face-off with the anti-gun marchers. UPSOUND Those on both sides of the gun issue are only part of a disparate army of protestors converging on Philadelphia for next week's convention. Other groups will demonstrate on issues ranging from abortion to health care. And so far, Philadelphia's police force is putting a friendly face on what city officials hope will be a few days of peaceful protest. But there are also concerns that the police could crack down hard. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Yeah, I got that distinct impression that, with the amount of police they've got here and the swat teams hiding in vans driving around, that they always prepare for the worst possible case scenario, you know, full scale riot, armed conflict. Obviously we're only completely on the other end of the spectrum here. We've got a bunch of moms and their kids." SUPER CAPTION: Robert Meek, legal observer Police officials plan to increase their presence in public places, saying they'll have hundreds of officers ready to be deployed in case of disturbances. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...