Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 11

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

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Price County, WI
    Posts
    1,789

    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
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Nevada
    Posts
    12,889
    Awesome!

  3. #3
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Offshore
    Posts
    11,477
    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.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Nevada
    Posts
    12,889
    Circle of death.

  5. #5
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    Its just metal.
    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    Circle of death.

  6. #6
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Offshore
    Posts
    11,477
    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/

  7. #7
    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    5,219
    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.

  8. #8
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    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.

  9. #9
    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    5,219
    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    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.
    Yes, I was surprised of the process. I'm not the sort to attract suspicion. I understand some caution with a stranger and a weapon, but I was not treated politely and did not ever hear the words thanking me or even saying something about doing the right thing. It almost seemed like they were unfamiliar with dealing with such a thing. If there is a next time I'll look into having it made into garden tools.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    7,454
    I love it. It's in the Bible, right, that our swords shall be turned into ploughshares?

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •