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{"id":1086,"date":"2018-12-14T11:38:59","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T17:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/voicesofrawtools\/?p=1086"},"modified":"2018-12-14T15:52:47","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T21:52:47","slug":"remembering-sandy-hook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/voicesofrawtools\/2018\/12\/remembering-sandy-hook\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Sandy Hook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

6 years ago <\/span>

RAWtools, Inc.<\/span><\/span>

didn\u2019t exist. And then tragedy struck in Newtown, CT at Sandy Hook Elementary school. Thoughts and prayers about RAWtools existed. But not action. The following February we officially launched when a local resident, also moved by the tragedy, decided his AK-47 was useless. So we cut it up and made garden tools out of it. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Others started to join in. People sent us their disabled guns from all over the country. Did you know its common for a gun to be returned to next of kin after a suicide?\u00a0 Sure its property.\u00a0 But its not just a gun sitting in the safe any more.\u00a0 A person at my church gave us a gun he had held onto for decades after his father\u2019s suicide.\u00a0 Suicide accounts for 2\/3 of gun violence.\u00a0 New numbers were released this week<\/a> that tell us 109 people PER DAY are lost to gun violence. Nine of those are kids under the age of 19 according to the CDC database.\u00a0 That means every 3 days we lose another<\/em>\u00a0classroom of kids to gun violence.\u00a0 These deaths are spread across the country instead of concentrated in one place so they go under the radar.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Parkland, teachers\u00a0 sent us their guns because they didn\u2019t want them as part of their life, or anyone else\u2019s.\u00a0 2 years ago a priest bought raffle tickets for an AR-15 just so he could destroy it<\/a>.\u00a0 People connected us to him and we made a garden tool out of it.\u00a0 He was then invited to the national gun violence vigil in Washington D.C. by the Newtown Foundation.\u00a0 This planted seed.<\/p>\n

Last fall we helped train inmates to make garden tools out of 140+ guns obtained through a buyback in New Haven, CT<\/a>.\u00a0 In the spring of 2019 we\u2019ll present over 100 fully functional tools to be spread across community gardens and high school gardens in Connecticut.\u00a0 They\u2019ll help grow fresh food for local food banks.\u00a0 Out of this another seed is growing as two blacksmith stations will be working throughout New England to turn more swords into plowshares.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nIts long overdue that we lay our guns down.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need them to solve conflict.\u00a0 You or someone in your home is more likely to be harmed by the gun in your home than to use it against an intruder.\u00a0 We must lean into each other with open arms instead of opening our doors while bearing arms.\u00a0 We must have dialogue with each other, especially outside of social media.\u00a0 We can talk to our legislators and vote every other year, but we must also do the hard work in between.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

In 2018 we piloted our second location in Toledo, OH.\u00a0 They started with one donor giving up 24 guns he had inherited.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

A year before that we held a gun to garden tool event in Toledo.\u00a0 A news crew was on its way to cover our event but was pulled to the scene of a tragedy where a 7 year old accidentally shot a 3 year old.\u00a0 When they finally arrived at our event we were wrapping up by having kids use a shovel we made to plant a hazelnut tree that would help feed the local community.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

Those 24 guns that were donated were a part of a workshop that taught youth and young adults how to make garden tools from guns in the morning and how to use nonviolence in the afternoon.\u00a0 This is what must change.*
*\n<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The picture below offers many ways you can turn thoughts and prayers into action.*
*\n-Two of the tools are going to a gun donor.\u00a0 If you donate a gun, we\u2019ll make a tool for you out of it for free<\/a>.\u00a0 We are building a national disarming network to help turn guns into garden tools.\u00a0 Join<\/a>!<\/div>\n

-The other tools are finished from our work in Connecticut and will be used in 2019.\u00a0 Contact us if you want to organize a buyback in your community.<\/a><\/div>\n

-We contributed to \u201cA Loaded Conversation<\/a>\u201d dialogue resource with Mennonite Central Committee.\u00a0 Use this resource (and others inside it) in your faith communities and other groups and stay at the table when talking to each other about gun violence.\u00a0 Last night we used it with a small group of people in our church.\u00a0 We used a talking piece, made from a hand gun in the shape of a feather.\u00a0 As the feather went around the circle we shared abut how gun violence has affected us.<\/div>\n*
** -For nearly 6 years, all of our tools have had an olive branch burned into its grip.\u00a0 This is a biblical reference to peace and a promise of #NeverAgain.\u00a0 Never again will that gun be able to take life. We must affect change in our neighborhoods.<\/div>\n
** <\/div>\n
** <\/div>\n
** We are living in a time when we can inherit dozens of guns (and gun deaths).\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
** What will we pass on to our children?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
** *6 years ago RAWtools, Inc. didn\u2019t exist. And then tragedy struck in Newtown, CT at Sandy Hook Elementary school. Thoughts and prayers about RAWtools existed. But not action. The following February we officially launched when a local resident, also moved by the tragedy, decided his AK-47 was useless. So we cut it up and made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRemembering Sandy Hook<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"6 years ago RAWtools, Inc. didn't exist. And then tragedy struck in Newtown, CT at Sandy Hook Elementary school. 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