The Guns to Gardens coalition will be hosting its National Gun Buyback Day where people can anonymously trade in their firearms.
Locally, the event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., June 11, in the parking lot at the Church of the Epiphany, 21000 Lakeshore Blvd. in Euclid.
The Rev. Rosalind C Hughes said that guns should be brought unloaded and left in the trunk of the individual’s car. Epiphany volunteers and Euclid police will then come out and remove the weapon and begin the dismantling process.
Gift cards will be provided to all who turn in guns.
At 2:30 p.m., the church will also have a vigil for those who have suffered from gun violence.
Individuals and organizations in Guns to Gardens seek to end gun violence, promote safe gun storage and maintain safe neighborhoods. It uses the buyback model to use disabled gun parts for community healing and further engagement through the making of garden tools, art, jewelry and other items that help people imagine and act into life-giving neighborhoods.
Hughes, who also is the author of “Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence,” says that all guns brought will be dismantled and melted down into gardening tools.
“So many times when I talk to people about gun violence it seems as unreal, but we have more influence than we ever know,” she said. “It’s about going the extra step of transformation and sowing that hope and resignation that comes with stopping gun violence.”
With June 3 being National Gun Violence Awareness Day, Hughes wishes for everyone to give their thoughts and prayers to those who have suffered from gun violence and asks that anyone who feels endangered by access they might have to a firearm to consider turning it over to the church in exchange for a gift card.
Also, Hughes and the Epiphany church encourage others in June to wear orange in support of the fight against gun violence. Orange was the color chosen as it is the way hunters distinguish one another.
Hughes said that one of the main tragedies associated with gun violence is the high suicide rate that comes with those suffering with mental illness having access to firearms.
“The really poignant factors in the research that I have seen, overall suicide attempts are more likely to succeed with the use of a firearm,” she said. “The chance for a successful suicide is 90% or higher with a gun, this puts someone with suicidal thoughts or actions with access to a gun at extreme risk. It is truly tragic indeed because the finality of gun violence robs them of a second chance.”