Dismantling Weapons, Cultivating Peace

Guns to Gardens PNW is a faith-based, community-driven initiative that dismantles unwanted firearms and turns them into garden tools, a powerful symbol of redemption that transforms instruments of violence into tools that cultivate life.

Our Story

Guns to Gardens is a national, volunteer-led movement that provides communities with a safe, nonviolent way to dispose of unwanted firearms.  Through firearm safe surrender events, individuals can bring in guns they no longer want or feel safe keeping, whether due to changes in family circumstances, aging, mental health concerns, or personal convictions.  At each event, trained volunteers use specialized tools to dismantle the surrendered firearms on site, ensuring they can never be used again.  These events offer a respectful, practical alternative to reselling or discarding firearms, helping reduce the risk of gun-related injuries and deaths.

What makes Guns to Gardens unique is what happens next: the dismantled parts are transformed into garden tools, a powerful symbol of redemption that turns instruments of violence into tools that cultivate life.  This symbolic act not only promotes healing, but also removes weapons permanently from communities.  

Guns to Gardens is a modern take on the Biblical prophetic vision of a future without violence or war, and therefore no need for weapons. The prophet Isaiah says, “they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” In that vein, we’re beating guns into garden tools and promoting a message of nonviolence, as modeled by Jesus Christ.

Guns to Gardens is inspired by the work of RAWtools, a nonprofit that for over a decade has built a national network forging peace from dismantled firearms.

Guns to Gardens Pacific Northwest

This growing movement has already made an impact in the Pacific Northwest.  Our first event in Bend, Oregon, was a powerful demonstration of the need and impact of this work.  In just two hours, more than 70 firearms were voluntarily surrendered and dismantled.

One woman brought five guns she had inherited from her late husband, unsure of how to safely store or handle them. Trained volunteers discovered that all five of these weapons were unknowingly still loaded. By safely disarming and then dismantling the firearms, our team successfully prevented a tragic accident from occurring in this woman’s home or in the community.  Stories like this remind us why Guns to Gardens matters and why we’re committed to expanding this life-affirming work across the Pacific Northwest.

How It Works

Safe Surrender Events

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Decommissioning Appointments

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“They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war again.”

- Isaiah 2:4

FAQs

  • Many of these guns are no longer wanted for a range of reasons:

    • The gun owner may have children or grandchildren in the home

    • A gun owner may have reached an age where they no longer feel that they can safely handle weapons

    • A gun may have been returned to family by the police after it was used in a suicide or unintentional shooting

    • There may be conflict in a family or relationship so that safety is now a concern

    • There may be a family member in the home with a serious mental illness, including depression or suicidal ideation

    • The guns may have been inherited by someone who doesn’t want them

    Nearly 70% of those who surrendered their weapons at our past events said they were turning in their firearms for safety reasons.  Some of the top reasons these donors chose to have their firearms dismantled were because they didn’t know how to use the firearm, they were unable to store the firearm properly, they were afraid of theft or that the firearm might get into the wrong hands, or they simply did not want the firearm around or in their house.  Whatever the reason, Guns to Gardens provides a way to dispose of unwanted guns without returning them to the gun marketplace where they could be used for future harm. 

  • For each Guns to Gardens drive-through event, community members bring unwanted, unloaded guns in the trunk, rear, or back seat of a vehicle.  Trained personnel remove the firearms from vehicles, clear them for safety, and transfer them to a chop saw station.  Skilled volunteers then use power tools to make three cuts to the gun, according to guidelines from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  Craftsmen, including blacksmiths, woodworkers, and artists, then transform the dismantled pieces into garden tools and art.

  • The event is not a traditional gun “buy back,” as the gun owner waits throughout this process and there is no transfer of firearm ownership.  Once the gun is dismantled, it is no longer legally a gun.  The owner can donate the leftover parts to be forged into garden tools.  While the Guns to Gardens event is not a traditional gun “buy back,” we offer gift cards to gun owners as a way to thank them for disposing of unwanted firearms.

Contact Us

Have questions about Guns to Gardens PNW? Interested in working together? Please send us an email at info@GunsToGardensPNW.org

We can’t wait to hear from you!