Seventy-nine firearms were surrendered and dismantled at Memphis’ first-ever Guns to Gardens safe surrender event last month.
Guns to Gardens, hosted by Evergreen Presbyterian Church, took unwanted guns in a drive-through event and dismantled them with chop saws. The gun parts will be given to artisans at the Metal Museum to make garden tools and art. The church called the event “a form of direct action to intervene in record levels of gun violence.”
Participants were offered Kroger gift cards for their guns in the 24-hous event. In all, 48 vehicles drove through and $6,350 in gift cards were given out. Thirty-five volunteers from 12 organizations participated.
Here’s what was surrendered:
● 79 firearms surrendered and dismantled
● 48 single-shot rifles/shotguns
● 30 handguns
● 1 assault-style weapon
“With this being our first Guns to Gardens event in Memphis, we honestly weren’t exactly sure what to expect in terms of participation,” said Reverend Patrick Harley, pastor of Evergreen. “To say that we were overwhelmed by the response is truly an understatement.
“Cars were lined up down the street, with some folks waiting patiently for nearly two hours. We started out with two chop saws and added a third to help handle the incredible number of guns that were being surrendered.
“And people shared such touching stories about why they wanted to surrender these guns. We are so grateful to those who participated and to the volunteers and ally organizations who helped make this event happen. This clearly showed there is a strong desire among Memphians for this type of solution to help reduce gun violence in our city, so our hope is that we can host similar events in the future.”
The Metal Museum will display the new tools and art made from Guns to Gardens in a special event on March 23rd from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
