ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — At an Asheville City Council meeting earlier this month, June 2026 was proclaimed National Gun Violence Awareness Month. Next week, the nonprofit RAWtools South will host a “gun disposal” event, encouraging the public to bring unloaded guns that will be deconstructed and transformed into garden tools and yard art.
During the city council meeting, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said that “in 2024, approximately 44,000 people in the United States died from gun-related injuries, including firearm homicides and firearm suicides,” and that between 2025 and 2025, “the city of Asheville experienced an annual average of seven firearm-related homicides, 100 aggravated assaults involving a firearm and 456 gun discharge calls for service.”
Manheimer said that calling awareness to gun violence requires a coordinated effort between the public and community organizations. That is the basis of the RAWtools event, the fourth Guns to Garden Tools, which will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 27, at the First Baptist Church of Asheville, 5 Oak St.
What to expect at Guns to Garden Tools
RAWtools invites “anyone” to bring unwanted, unloaded and working guns to the event, where the firearms will be dismantled by trained volunteers and handed over to RAWtools blacksmiths, who will transform them into garden tools or pieces of artwork…