BRATTLEBORO-Swords to Plowshares/Vermont will hold a special public educational and demonstration event on Sunday, May 4, from noon to 3 p.m., on the grounds of St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 16 Bradley Ave.
Swords to Plowshares/Vermont is a Windham County–based nonprofit organization dedicated to gun safety and gun violence education.
Working closely with the Windham County Sheriff's Office and the Brattleboro Police Department, Swords to Plowshares offers a way for individuals to safely dispose of unwanted firearms which are then transformed into garden tools, jewelry, and artwork by blacksmith artists, among them students from the Putney School.
"In my law enforcement career, I've responded to more suicides with firearms than crimes," said Windham County Sheriff Mark Anderson, a member of the Swords to Plowshares/Vermont board, in a news release. "When the idea of Swords to Plowshares came about, it offered a clear way to have discussions about firearms violence - something that's often in the shadows - and about how firearms impact our community beyond crime."
The May 4 event will feature a demonstration of transforming unwanted firearms into garden tools. Attendees will also have a chance to take part in the transformational process themselves, wielding a blacksmith's hammer.
Free gun safety locks, courtesy of the Windham County Sheriff's Department, will also be available, along with literature about safe gun storage.
The May 4 event is free and will be held rain or shine. For more information, email swordstoplowsharesvt@gmail.com or swordsplowsharesvt.org.
This Town and Village item was submitted to The Commons.