Old Guns Turned Into Gardening Tools In New Haven

From New Haven PD: New Haven’s “Swords into Plowshares” program is moving forward. Its mission – to turn guns into gardening tools.

For seven years, the New Haven Police Department and Yale New Haven Hospital have taken hundreds of guns off the hands of those wanting to turn them in for destruction. The Buy-backs have provided participating community members with thousands of dollars in gift cards in exchange for turned-in working firearms. These weapons will no longer be able to cause harm and death. They will never fall into the hands of violent criminals. They will never be the instruments of suicide, the intentional killing of a person or the accidental death by the hands of a curious child.

We are proud to once again partner with our driving force, the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of New Haven and its director, Dr. Pina Violano and Yale New Haven Hospital. This program is a determined effort to make New Haven safer by taking dangerous weapons off the streets and potentially out of the hands of those who perpetrate crimes. Steve Yanovsky, of the Newtown Foundation & Newtown Action Alliance has been the managing force behind the Gun Buy-back’s furtherance – New Haven’s “Swords into Plowshares” program. The foundation’s message and mission is focused on positive cultural change, and the passage of sensible gun laws in this country.

We’ve coursed a new path for the collected guns – one far beyond simple obliteration. The firearms collected at the last two buy-backs will be destroyed phone (203) 946-6333 fax (203) 946-7294 website www.cityofnewhaven.com/police by cops and metal sculptors under the tutelage of a local and renowned sculptor – Gar Waterman.

Providing hands-on training and guidance for the next step are members of the efforts most distant (by time zone only) partners – Executive Director Mike Martin and his enthusiastic staff from Colorado based RAWtools, Inc. The participation of RawTools has been generously funded by the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. The destroyed pieces will then be given to volunteer members of Connecticut’s prison inmate population. Under the watchful eye of Warden Jose Feliciano and staff from the CT Department of Corrections, these inmates will use the training they’ve received from Martin and RAWtools to forge the pieces into gardening tools.

Come early spring, many of the hand-created tools will be donated to New Haven Public Schools that support agricultural programs including gardening. The tools will be used to plant and cultivate vegetable gardens. The crops will be harvested and donated to area soup kitchens and those less fortunate, will be provided the vegetables that help to make a nutritious meal.

Image via The City of New Haven