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Thread: RAWtools: Nonprofit that melts down guns to forge garden tools.

  1. #1
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    RAWtools: Nonprofit that melts down guns to forge garden tools.

    The NY Times wrote an article on RAWtools.org … "RAW" being WAR backwards.

    Founded by Mike Martin, the stated objective is to repurpose weapons into hand tools.


    For instance in 2013 a gun-owner in Colorado Springs felt that his AK-47 was surplus to his needs, and donated the weapon to RAWtools to be forged into 3 hand tools for gardening. Other donors have included parents who discovered weapons in the possession of their juvenile sons, veterans who had been contemplating suicide and decided to dispose of their firearms, spouses or children who had inherited the guns from men who had used them to kill themselves.

    Mike Martin has an Anabaptist faith, and was influenced by the theologian, Walter Brueggemann, with the idea that conflict can be healthy or unhealthy... and people who have been hurt need to bring their pain to speech. "What do you do when someone takes your kids?", asks David Works, who lost two of his four children to a shooter who attacked a church.

    RAWtools is building networks and seeking donations of money as well as guns.

    For an interview with Mike Martin from 2/17/15 on KCMJ (Martin segment begins at 7:08 on the Soundcloud playback)

    http://rawtools.org/what-we-do

  2. #2
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Awesome!

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    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Hmmm - a couple years ago, I turned some metal from a wrecked Ford into an AK-47. The only difficult part was rifling the barrel.

    Circle of life.

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    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Circle of death.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Its just metal.
    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    Circle of death.

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    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    Circle of death.
    Gardening causes death too. It's pretty much unavoidable.

    Firearms can preserve life as well, I used one just a few weeks ago to this end.

    As to the virtues of this specific charity's efforts - they are looking for crowd funding for to support employees, to then use significant inputs of energy, labor, and materials to turn perfectly good firearms into overpriced garden tools. For the cost of one of these tools, and the energy/labor involved, or the value of the destroyed firearm which already has energy/labor embodied in its existence, you could save a fair number of human lives, instead of engaging in hairshirt virtue signaling.

    https://nothingbutnets.net/

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    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
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    I understand how a gun owner might want to dispose of a firearm, either to get it out of circulation or because it no longer works safely. I had an old hunting shotgun that was broken and could not be repaired. The only thing I could think of for safe disposal was to take it to the police department. Putting it in the trash did not seem like a totally safe thing. I called ahead, left it in my car, and reported to the front desk. It was a long and not pleasant process. They photocopied my ID and seemed to do some sort of time consuming background check. Then had to wait for two not very friendly officers to escort me to my car. The shotgun was broken down, the barrel as one piece and the stock and trigger assembly another, and very obviously could not function, but I was not allowed to touch it to hand to the officers and was mildly reprimanded for trying. It took close to an hour out of my day. That won't happen again.

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    I love it. It's in the Bible, right, that our swords shall be turned into ploughshares?

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    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tybee View Post
    I love it. It's in the Bible, right, that our swords shall be turned into ploughshares?
    But the Hávamál says:

    Ósnjallr mađr
    hyggsk munu ey lifa,
    ef hann viđ víg varask;
    en elli gefr
    hánum engi friđ,
    ţótt hánum geirar gefi.

    Which is roughly

    The foolish man thinks he will live forever
    if he refrains from fighting;
    but old age won’t provide him a truce,
    even if the spears do.

  10. #10
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rogar View Post
    I understand how a gun owner might want to dispose of a firearm, either to get it out of circulation or because it no longer works safely. I had an old hunting shotgun that was broken and could not be repaired. The only thing I could think of for safe disposal was to take it to the police department. Putting it in the trash did not seem like a totally safe thing. I called ahead, left it in my car, and reported to the front desk. It was a long and not pleasant process. They photocopied my ID and seemed to do some sort of time consuming background check. Then had to wait for two not very friendly officers to escort me to my car. The shotgun was broken down, the barrel as one piece and the stock and trigger assembly another, and very obviously could not function, but I was not allowed to touch it to hand to the officers and was mildly reprimanded for trying. It took close to an hour out of my day. That won't happen again.
    hunh. My neighbor discovered a handgun buried in her front garden. It was quite rusty and had some holes. Our neighborhood policeman was was quite friendly when he took it. We have also handed over suspected crank (it wasnt but it was packaged to look like crank) and the policeman eas fne with taking it, no report needed.

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