Guns to Gardens: Oakland Police Gun Buyback Program Turns Weapons Into Garden Tools
by Cesar Lopez-Ramirez
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- Reviving the ancient call of beating swords into plowshares, Oakland police are using a gun buyback program to turn guns into gardening tools.
The Guns to Gardens program is OPD's newest buyback program with a mission to reduce gun violence in the city. At a press conference Thursday, the department said it was partnering with Colorado-based nonprofit RAWtools to turn the guns into implements to build a better community.
"We want those firearms. We want to be able to melt those firearms down and do something positive with that metal," said Chief LeRonne Armstrong. "Oakland obviously has dealt with tremendous violence and firearms has been the true driver of that violence"
Armstrong is hoping that financial compensation for any ghost guns or privately manufactured guns will encourage people to turn them in.
Mike Martin, the executive director of RAWTools, founded the company with a direct objective to take guns off the streets because of past events involving gun violence.
"We've been turning guns into garden tools since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting," said Martin. "The effort here that is beginning here in Oakland is a part of a national effort of other buybacks across the country."
Guns to Gardens will take place on June 11 at the At Thy Word Ministries church in Oakland.