What is Guns to Gardens?

After the shooting at the Sandy Hook School in Dec. 2012, Mennonite pastor Mike Martin felt a call to become a blacksmith and forge unwanted guns into garden tools. He founded RAWtools as a network of blacksmiths across the nation. Soon he was joined by theologian Shane Claiborne and by New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence who christened the project “Guns to Gardens.” It began to grow.

After a mass shooting in the nearby grocery store in 2021, Community United Church of Christ in Boulder, CO offered a “Gun Safe Surrender” event in their parking lot. Dozens of firearms were surrendered and turned into garden tools. The idea of churches offering this healing and practical service was born. In March 2022 the Denver Broncos football team hosted a Guns to Gardens event at their stadium in Mile High, Colorado, transforming 189 guns. That June 11, on a single day, churches and others across the USA dismantled over 1,000 guns.

For more information or to volunteer, contact:
Rev. Travis Winckler at travis.winckler@secondchurch.net
Rev. Thirza Sayers at thirza@light4thedarkness.com