There are more than 393 million registered and unregistered guns in the U.S. On Sunday, Shane Claiborne will host a RAWtools ceremony where disassembled guns seized and donated by the Akron Police Department will be transformed into gardening tools. The event is sponsored by various peace and faith groups from across Northeast Ohio, and organizers hope it will spark a new conversation about gun violence advocacy in the region.
CANTON – There are an estimated 393 million guns in the United States.
On Sunday, 60 of them will be melted down and turned into gardening tools.
The effort is part of a nonviolence and peace promotion festival organized by the peace advocacy group Together NEO, which will take place across northeast Ohio and conclude in Canton on Sunday.
Author and activist Shane Claiborne will be hosting a RAWtools ceremony where disassembled guns will be melted down and turned into gardening tools.
The Canton-area event will be held Sunday from 3 to 7 p.m. at Nimissira Park, 1075 O'Jays Blvd. NE. In tandem with the blacksmithing ceremony, there will be music and other festivities centered around the theme of nonviolence.
Ceremonies began Thursday night at the Akron Cooperative Farm in Akron, and continued Friday at Asa Woods Park in Cleveland. In Akron, festival organizers received 60 guns that had been confiscated on the streets and donated by the Akron Police Department. The guns were then disassembled, with the wood separated from the metal, and transported to their next destination. As a result, no live ammunition or working weapons will be on display.
Akron Cooperative Farm founder Douglas Wirtz told the Akron Beacon Journal that a vegetable garden is a great place to start.
“This is a place to build community and change people's hearts,” Wertz said. “These guns were being used for evil, but we're going to turn it around and use them for good.”
What is the Festival of Nonviolence and Peace?
Bryson Davis, executive director of the Akron Leadership Foundation, said the symbolic ceremony was inspired in part by a biblical passage that foretells an end to all war. The Old Testament book of Isaiah speaks of breaking swords into plowshares and spears into sickles, a symbolism that RAWtools modernized.
“This is about taking metal that was made to harm people and turning it into a tool that can nurture life,” Davis said. “This is a way to salvage these tools and their stories and bring peace to the community.”
Darin Nisley, director of Lighthouse Ministries in Canton, said the means by which the weapons were obtained is important.
“When a trigger is pulled and a life is taken, something breaks,” Nisley said. “The idea of going into a broken space and repairing it is a great idea. These guns are a product of that brokenness.”
Davis said the festival promotes new ways to solve society's problems.
“Too often in our country we solve violence with violence, but we can change this by responding with strong peace instead,” Davis said.
“There is a growing movement of people ready to act.”
The Canton area of the event is primarily sponsored by Canton for All People, Lighthouse Ministries of Canton, Pax Christi USA and the Stark County Prosecutor's Office. Nisley said there has been a surge in nonviolent advocacy efforts.
“There's a new coalition forming around peacebuilding, and all of these groups are very active right now working toward nonviolent solutions,” Nisley said. “There's a growing movement of people who are ready to act and who are trying to make the Bible real, and I think that's a great thing.”
Nisley said all of the groups that participated in the event are providing a new platform for discussion about the issue of violence in Northeast Ohio. He said he felt a connection with Claiborne coming to Canton because of the tradition and mission of Lighthouse. Lighthouse was founded by the First Mennonite Church, which Nisley described as a traditional peace church.
“From the beginning, the Lighthouse's mission has been to teach young people nonviolent solutions to problems in their lives and in their communities,” Nisley said. “I especially like RAWtools' swords-to-plowshares ceremony. The Lighthouse has many artworks dedicated to nonviolence, including a cable ornament made from bullets that has a similar message.”
