LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville blacksmith is taking a stand against gun violence by breathing in new life to unwanted weapons and turning guns into gardening tools.
The fifth Guns to Gardens event was held Sunday at Grace Hope Presbyterian Church in Smoketown. The event is aimed towards getting guns out of the community and turned into something beautiful.
"An event like this gives people the opportunity to anonymously surrender a gun, and then in their presence, they can watch it cut three times, which means that it's no longer legally a gun," Soni Castleberry with Guns to Gardens Global said. "We realize that we're never going to get rid of all the guns that we have in this country, but we also know that there are individuals who have guns that no longer want them."
Craig Kaviar is a local blacksmith. After the weapons are taken apart, he is given the pieces and welds them together as garden hoes, jewelry, and artwork.
"Kentucky has a particular problem where all guns that are taking possession of by the government official has to be turned over to the state police and re auctioned off," Kaviar said.
The event is held twice a year, in different spots across Louisville - meeting people where they are.
"It's not indicative of how much violence there is in a particular area. It has more to do with just being convenient for people, because violence is everywhere. It doesn't matter where you live," Grace Hope Presbyterian Church Pastor Angela Johnson said. "You don't want a toddler to find it, a teenager or anybody to find it and then accidentally harm themselves or somebody else."
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