Courtesy RAWtools
Courtesy RAWtools

Utahns dropped off the unwanted firearms at the Christ United Methodist Church, where professionals took the firearms apart.

“Even the most skilled gunsmith couldn’t make this a serviceable weapon. This gun will never hurt anyone, because now it’s just a chunk of metal,” said one of the volunteers.

The center will ship the pieces to a Colorado organization called RAWtools that will turn the guns into spades or mattocks you can purchase online.

“It’s a great alternative to selling them for people who just don’t want their guns to possibly be out on the street,” said Julie Peck-Dabling, a member of the Christ United Methodist Church.

“It’s a way to make sure that we are forging peace in society and we see that this is a means of preventing gun violence,” said Terri Gilfillian, board chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah.

— Emily Tencer in Unwanted Guns Are Taking on a New Purpose: Gardening

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118 COMMENTS

  1. ““Even the most skilled gunsmith couldn’t make this a serviceable weapon. This gun will never hurt anyone, because now it’s just a chunk of metal,” said one of the volunteers.”

    American gunsmiths – “Watch this.”…

    • Lol that’s kind of the same thing i thought when i read that part. Seemed like a bit of an overstatement

      • Literally beer cans and an inexpensive desktop CNC can crank out an AR lower overnight.

        That horse is *long* from the barn…

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      • RE: “RAWtools that will turn the guns into spades or mattocks you can purchase online.”

        Now an ax murderer has an option and can dig a shallow grave, 4473 not necessary….All thanks to busy body mitt romney do gooder imbeciles.

    • Its the liberal mindset delusion concept that their solutions are the only ones and absolute ’cause ‘I feelz’.

      Got metal, ya can make a gun. Gunsmiths, for literally centuries now, have taken “it’s just a chunk of metal” and turned out complete firearms.

      • .40 cal,

        But “gunsmiths” have this critical thing that anti-gunners and other Leftist/fascists don’t – intellect. I’ve said it dozens of times (on this forum) – I’m NOT a “gunsmith” (wish I was!), but I can walk into any Home Depot in the morning, with a Benjy in my pocket, and have a functional firearm before the sun goes down.

        The moronic Left HATES human intelligence – because they deliberately ABANDONED intellect for “feelz”, and actual intelligent humans s**t all over their narratives. The most painful thing you can subject a Lefty to is logic, knowledge, facts, and reality – that harsh their mellow.

        But, yeah, they are objectively STOOPID.

        • “…I can walk into any Home Depot in the morning, with a Benjy in my pocket, and have a functional firearm before the sun goes down.”

          Animal urine (including the *human* animal) provides one of the key components for black powder propellant.

          In the same Home Depot garden center, sulfur is sold that provides the other key component. They can’t control guns or gunpowder, as the assassination Of Mr. Abe in Japan proved… 🙁

        • Geoff,

          One of MANY options. Black powder is LITERALLY “dirt simple” to make, but . . . it’s not exactly the most effective option. That’s just one of a multitude of tools an INTELLIGENT person (thus leaving out MajorLiar, dacian the demented, and all other Leftist/fascists) could use to manufacture/execute a functional weapon (a firearm is ONE weapon, not the only weapon – and even for firearms, there are other ‘field-expedient’ propellants than black powder).

          There’s an old saying, “If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” That is a great capsule summation of the Leftist/fascist approach to every problem – “gummint” . . . as if “gummint” weren’t COMPOSED of people.

          As I said, they are objectively stupid – and in many cases (MajorLiar immediately springs to mind), intentionally so. Many of them “know” that they are being stupid, and intentionally choose to pursue “the narrative” over the obvious evidence in the real world. A truly “special” kind of stupid.

    • So farm/general tools have never been used to harm someone………I think one of my peasant ancestors just said hold my meade.

      • Bill hooks, axes, flails, hammers, spikes and the same dagger/knife that was used to eat with all wound up used on the ancient battle fields. If a Bill Hook could lop off a tree limb, it could do the same on an opposing soldier.
        Nearly anything can be used as a weapon. If it gives advantage in a fight, it is a useful weapon.

        • IWillNotComply (LOVE the nick, by the way!),

          As Robert Anson Heinlein said, “There are no ‘dangerous weapons’, only dangerous men.” RAH was NOT wrong. You can’t ‘disarm’ a man with a mind. There are certainly BETTER arms (and I know how to make many of those, too), but as long as my brain is intact, I am “armed” (which pretty much means that MajorLiar or dacian the demented would be disarmed if they had an arsenal).

    • “A chunk of metal” pretty well describes the starting object before a CNC milling machine gets done with it. Where do they think guns come from?

  2. I’m reminded of the thing I saw years ago, where a guy forged a shovel into an AK receiver…

  3. “It’s a great alternative to selling them for people who just don’t want their guns to possibly be out on the street”

    If it’s just a “chunk of metal” that can’t be made into a serviceable weapon, why would I care if they are out on the streets?

  4. “Those who hammer their swords into plowshares will wind up plowing for those who didn’t.” — Gary W. Smith, Life Changing Thoughts: Thousands of Inspiring, Life-changing, and Humorous Thoughts (AuthorHouse, 2009)

  5. With the Methodist church allowing blasphemy by the Alphabet clan, it doesn’t surprise me.
    When does the book burning begin?

    Methodist has become demon ridden and is a Fake church.

    • AMEN. I looked the Methodist church up the other day and was flabbergasted at what I saw.

    • JoJo,

      Name me the current, “Mainstream” religion that has NOT “gone woke”. Well, OK, fundamentalist/jihadist Muslims, and certain fundamentalist Protestant denominations (but the number is fewer by the day), maybe, but . . . “woke” seems to have a strange appeal to the unthinking religious (which MOST DEFINITELY includes morons like MajorLiar and dacian the demented – Leftism is every bit as “religious” as any other religion).

      But most religions/sects/denominations have become infested with “feelz”, and abandoned reason. Doesn’t mean “religion” or “belief” are incompatible with reason, it just means that they attract a disproportionate number of the stupid and unreasoning.

      • They are desperately clinging to a false idea of relevancy. Instead, they should be standing firm on the rock solid message of the Gospel that invites everyone in and calls all of us to “Go and sin no more.”

        The irony is that while they want to bring as many in as possible, their message isn’t intriguing or inviting. It is bland and pointless. There is no grace without truth.

        • the gun is not an evil thing…it’s the hand that holds it that bears ultimate responsibility

      • Actually the African Christian churches are where the church foundation is strong and impenetrable. A lot has been written lately about the anti-LGBTQxyz laws that were passed in several African countries lately. . Apparently, the Africans aren’t interested in the white man’s homosexual agenda. Which includes disarming civilian populations.
        Yeah that’s right. I said it.

        The “West” wants to forcibly make the Africans change their laws about their nations cultural issues.

        There are predominantly white Christian churches in america that are formally aligning themselves with African Christian churches. Because of this issue.

        That news has not gotten as much attention in the secular atheist news media.

  7. that’s just what I’ve always wanted! a shovel that still has to be transferred via 4473…

    • Forrest,

      Heh!! I saw what you did there! And you are technically not incorrect, although the chances of anyone actually pursuing such a case are slim and none . . . and Slim just left the building.

  8. What utter “virtue-signaling” NONSENSE! Any competent gunsmith can turn most “junk” guns into a functioning tools in short order.

    Go whine to your congregation after you have been victimized by a criminal. (You could have had a low-cost method of protecting yourself). Don’t worry, you can always blame it on an inanimate object instead of the dysfunctional malefactor. (It isn’t really their fault).

    Morons.

    • Well, here’s what they turn out… and this is the one they think looks good enough for a photoshoot, they’re not exactly masters at finishing work. I’ve seen better stuff turned out in a couple of hours by people on one of those knife-making competition shows.

      I kinda doubt they know fuck-all about gunsmiths or gunsmithing.

      https://springs.rawtools.org/product/garden-mattock/

      • strych,

        For your last sentence (just before the link)? You coulda stopped after the “all”, and been equally accurate. Would have saved you some keystrokes.

        • I’m quite confident that they know something about grifting.

          Were I a betting man, I’d lay a hefty wager that they know quite a lot about that particular pastime.

    • These kind of people are fanatical in the worst ways. They can only see evil in something that is neither morally good or bad. Though they couch their words in seeking “peace” they are typically some of the most destructive, intolerant, judgemental sorts of people, with a dark ages fear of objects or beliefs that run counter to their own.

      It’s a small step from these gun control activists to various purges and persecutions in history, witch hunts, inquisitions, burning heretics, various dictatorships like the Taliban blowing up historic monuments and destroying anything or anyone they don’t like.

      • The typical extreme political ideologue has a very limited concept of morality outside of either supporting or not supporting their ideology.

      • In the last paragraph you have accurately described dacian’s Caravan of Death.

  10. More and more I’m not surprised that my grandmother was a Methodist.

    Anyway, if you’re not trying to virtue signal you recycle something at a larger level the way Rogue does with agricultural blades.

    They make a damn fine set of other tools too. Sharpen them from time to time with a file and they’re just a damn fine set of hardworking equipment without a bunch of bullshit virtueprop bullshit.

    https://roguehoe.com/

    • Garden tool-wielding man fatally shot by deputies in Bellflower identified > https://www.audacy.com/knxnews/news/local/garden-tool-wielding-man-fatally-shot-by-deputies-identified

      “Authorities identified a man Friday who was fatally shot by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies after he allegedly stabbed another man with a gardening implement.

      …

      Edgar Ortiz, 32, allegedly stabbed another man on the scene with what authorities described as a “garden claw,” before swinging it towards deputies. One or more officers opened fire as a result, wounding Ortiz.”

      In the United States daily nationwide, there are ~1,400 criminal attacks upon victims in which the criminal person uses a knife and ~3,800 criminal attacks upon victims in which the criminal person uses another non-firearm weapon such as sharpened ‘implement/tools’, blunt objects, ligatures, hand/feet, ‘improvised’ (meaning any other thing at hand that can be used).

      During the school year in the U.S. there are ~38,000 criminal attacks upon victims during school hours on school grounds using a sharpened #2 pencil, and in about 50% of them the injuries are life threatening.

      I know one guy who while in high school got attacked by two other students and was stabbed repeatedly with #2 pencils. And when they got him down another student jumped in and stabbed him with a home made thick plastic ‘knife’ thing he had made to avoid the metal detection by the school guards, stabbed him repeatedly in the femoral artery during the fight and had it not been for a quick thinking teacher he would have bled out before the paramedics arrived. His family moved away from Chicago shortly after that.

  13. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m completely amenable to this idea in principle. And I would buy one of these tools because I love to garden. However, methinks the motivations behind this are misguided. Still, seems innocuous enough.

  15. When I saw this I thought “they can’t be Mormons”?!! Probably gotta a gal for a “pastor” with happy colors emblazoned on their “church”. Heretics & apostates GOD will judge🙄

  16. lol
    Well, they can call it what ever they like. But forging peace this isn’t. All this does is keep the craziness going. It just translates to more death.

  17. Gonna be fun to watch em protect themselves from the growing mob with farm implements, eh!?

    • I dunno enough people with pitchforks and the will to use them working together would be more than enough for most crowd control problems until guns get involved.

  18. Meet the board members:
    Mike Martin, founder: former pastor, trained for restorative justice facilitation and dialogue circles

    Rev. Dr. Stephany Rose: activist, public commentator, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Colorado Springs and associate professor of Women’s and Ethnic Studies

    Laurie Works is a therapist in training, community organizer, and transformational healer.

    Jeresneyka (Jeh-Reh-Snay-Kah) Rose, known as Rizzo, is a self-taught visual artist and community advocate. She primarily draws inspiration from her Panamanian heritage, sexuality, pop-culture, community, and environmental influences.
    Her art: https://www.instagram.com/artbyrizzo/
    We have a large “LOVE” mural, and then we see “My Body! My Right”, Rizzo flipping the bird, and F**k your abortion ban!

    That was all totally predictable.

    Your comment is awaiting moderation
    I don’t feel like finding the mod trigger.

  19. So, anyone here think that this is a good idea?? Taking an object that is obviously borne with ill intent and then beating the hell out of it with torches and hammers? Obviously, these tools will turn on their owners the first chance that they get, like a Pitbull that was trained with a two by four. Nothing brings out the hatred like being leaned up against a shed in the afternoon sun, after years of lounging in a climate controlled gunsafe.
    I myself wouldn’t feel safe around one of them.

  20. What’s driving the church goers is they see Gun Control as good and firearms as bad when History clearly confirms it is the exact opposite.

    Unfortunately the History of Gun Control is a topic most Gun Talking Gun Owners keep hidden from the public. The results are never ending articles intended to persuade the public to bow to Gun Control…Gun Control couldn’t ask for better pals.

  21. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. These folks may very well be well meaning, but stupid.
    Make a few garden tools and play it up for the media. Virtue signal and preen for media attention.
    And as always, at the end of the day, not a single violent thug or angry ex spouse is disarmed or prevented from finding a weapon.
    Do these folks not realize any firearm out there made from metal starts out as raw chunks of metal?
    I have a forge and an old Bridgeport multi axis milling machine, a drill press, and a bench grinder. Along with the appropriate hand held tools. Guess what. I could make nearly any firearm. All I need is steel and proper drawings/specifications and measurements. Not all that hard.

  22. “Religion”

    This one word explains a whole host of irrational ideas and positions.

  23. A favorite weapon of the Russian Spitnaz [sic?] is their entrenching tool. Almost anything can be used as a lethal weapon.

    • I knew a MGYSGT who had a Silver Star for lopping the heads off of 3 NVA with an entrenching tool. He told us the story on the Metro in D.C. one afternoon. The horrified looks on the civilians around us was priceless.

    • Thats because Uncle Ivan issues them AKs.

      Uncle Vlad, today, doesn’t even have ammo to issue.

      • Mobiks even have to supply their own “uniform”, boots, sleeping bag, other kit, body armor, radios, binoculars, and night vision.

        Says a lot when the “world’s second strongest army” can’t feed, clothe, and equip it’s troops.

        • I have to admit, seeing all those rusted, junk AKs being handed out to those poor conscripts was shocking, to me.

          I had these mental images of cool, dry, warehouses packed to the gills with glistening, cosmoline protected guns.

          Now I realize all those guns were sold to American rednecks in the 1980s, and are rusting in their non-air conditioned closets in the deep south.

          (I’ve personally seen more than I’d like to see from behind the pawn shop counter of neglected Florida-stored SKSs, I’m sad to say. One look down the bore and hand them back to them…) 🙁

  24. If I had a non-functional weapon that was unsalvageable, I would give it a more noble death than that.

    That being said, I don’t keep junk, and everything I did have (prior to my unfortunate boating accident), was kept in good working order.

  25. FcknA whackem in the head then use the shovel and dig a hole.
    These peeps got it going on.
    Thank you religious organizations, you’ve be front and foremost in just about every war that took millions of lives.
    I support those whom promote Death.
    Thank you Thank you Thank you. 🙏

  26. Metals are malleable – now tell us something we didn’t know. A skilled metal worker can turn a gun into a hoe, turn that hoe back into a gun, turn that gun into a wheel hub, turn that wheel hub back into a gun again, and on and on and on . . .

    The paying customer decides what form the metal will take, not some idiot who hates tools.

  28. I will gladly and willingly beat my swords and firearms into plow share when Christ return and peace will reign. until then NO!

  31. “It’s a way to make sure that we are forging peace in society and we see that this is a means of preventing gun violence,”

    Doing something like this, making people feel they are doing something to benefit society, may have some benefit. In reality, all that is happening to the betterment of society is making sure that those destroyed guns cannot be used for any purpose, whatso ever. But the effort does actually nothing to reduce crime and violence in the grand scheme.

    However, the effort is driven by the underlying theory that if we get rid of all the weapons (guns), there can be no crime with weapons). Kinda hard to dispute that. Sorta like, “If we get rid of all law, there will be no crime

  33. I recall that Sampson slew a thousand men using the jaw bone of a Democrat as his only weapon.

  34. Though by no means do I call myself a Blacksmith, I do have a small forge and a lot of the basic tools, and took two classes at the local Community College years ago. I’ve made some decent knives, and decorative ironwork over the years since. The pieces I’m proudest of, are a Bearded Axe, and my favorite, a reproduction Lochaber Axe.

    That this nonsense is coming from the Methodist Church, isn’t surprising at all. That denomination parted ways from Christianity a long time ago. This church, is a United Methodist partner, which means they’ll ordain LGBT’s and are Ultra-Liberal. Their “Interpretation” of scripture, doesn’t hold up to serious traditional theology as Homosexuality is still a Sin no matter how they twist scripture around.
    Funny thing about the United Methodists is that the more Conservative Wesleyan Methodists broke off in the 1840s, primarily because the United Methodist Church supported Slavery, and the Wesleyan’s believed Slavery a great Sin, along with lesser doctrinal disagreements. The Unitted Methodist Doctrinal belief regarding Slavery didn’t change until the 13th Amendment made them change.
    Wonder if the current membership knows their “church’s” real History?

  35. “This gun will never hurt anyone, because now it’s just a chunk of metal,” They need to brush up on their bible stories. Cain killed Abel with a rock I’m thinking a chunk of metal would have worked just as well.

  37. I’ve asked this question before on TTAG. Do? Another 6 million Jews need to get gassed, before the Jews wake the F#ck up???
    And realize they need to have guns.

    And now that same question needs to be asked about the mormons??

    Do they need to bring back the “mormon execution” order”, before the mormons wake the F up???
    And realize that they need to have guns just like the Jews do.

    It is just astonishing to see the number of people who have completely forgotten or not even learned about the great suffering of their people.

    • “It is just astonishing to see the number of people who have completely forgotten or not even learned about the great suffering of their people.”

      Likely because the nation has been fat for too long; coupled with the attention span of a gnat. “Bad times lead to strong people; strong people lead to good times. Good times lead to weak people; weak people lead to bad times.”

      On the whole, you may be interested in two of Herman Wouk’s (“woke’s”) books: “Winds of War”; “War and Remembrance”. Explores “the will not to believe”.

      • Thanks the recommendations. I watched the TV movie specials that were based on the books years ago.
        The increasing number of people who don’t want to believe. There own lying eyes is actually sad. And scary. It’s how some really terrible things historically ended up happening.

        The 2nd amendment is not about hunting. And the 1st amendment is not about pornography.

        • “‘I watched the TV movie specials that were based on the books years ago.”

          Still recommend the books. The TV movies did not convey the same tension and anxiety developed in the books. They were so good, I read them both in a near-48hr binge on a weekend. Reading, one gets an immersion in “the will not to believe”. The books personify the concept of “can’t put it down.”

  38. “Even the most skilled gunsmith couldn’t make this a serviceable weapon. This gun will never hurt anyone, because now it’s just a chunk of metal,” said one of the volunteers.

    What a retarded statement. That’s like shooting Ted Kaczynski’s body to make sure he never blows someone up again.

  39. Hmmm….

    Does the church hold an FFL? The license would be required to conduct that many transfers.

    Were each of the “destroyed” guns destroyed by being torch cut into three pieces in the manner required by regulation? (Hammering the receiver into a useless chunk of metal does NOT meet the ATF regulation so it is still legally a firearm even if they are correct that it is unusable.)

  40. ‘Useful idiots’. That may be good PR for the church and a feel-good move, but it is the evil deeds of people that cause harm, not guns. I believe there is an ancient Greek saying that goes — ‘Those who turn their swords into plowshares will plow for those who keep their swords’.

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