We make a gun every 3 seconds in the U.S. Three small children die from gun violence every day. Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission Executive Director Victoria Stone welcomes RAWtools founder Michael Martin and peace activist/artist Mary Sprunger-Froese into the studio to join her continuing gun violence discussion with Josh Rumple.
They discuss a recent shooting in which a mother killed her three children. It’s not a mass shooting, but it is gun violence. Part of the challenge: a belief that guns are a problem-solver, something that gun laws alone won’t solve. Also discussed: the myth of “redemptive violence,” the notion that we need guns to protect us from people with guns. American society tends to think there is some good violence (by police, military, etc.), but of course it is still violence. Also on the agenda: the “wild west” persona. We’re obsessed with having power OVER people instead of power under people and lifting them up.
The non-profit Martin founded, RAWtools, turns guns into garden tools, “changing the story from death into life” (with a team of volunteers being taught how to blacksmith). He is also co-author (with Shane Claiborne) of the new book, Beating Guns. The book explores how we got into the place we’re in today with so many shootings. Ten percent of the gun owners are holding this conversation hostage. The hope of the book is that we stop killing each other.
Michael is in the midst of a national book tour that stops in Colorado Springs on March 23. There are three ways you can plug in and help Raw Tools: Donate, volunteer to turn guns into tools, or be one of the volunteers across the country who disable guns that people want to donate and send to Raw Tools.
As artist-in-residence at RAWtools, Mary Sprunger-Froese hosts workshops at RAWtools. Justice activist Josh Rumpel has spent a year studying gun violence.
Visit rawtools.org to volunteer, donate, or learn about workshops. Visit beatingguns.com to learn more about the book or see if there is a book tour stop in your area.
This episode was recorded several weeks before the most recent mass shooting in New Zealand. We are saddened at this senseless loss of lives.
LINKS:
Beating Guns (book)
Pikes Peak Justice & Peace Commission
Founded in 1978, PPJPC has served as an alternative voice committed to raising community consciousness regarding the protection of human rights, environmental sustainability, support for those experiencing homelessness, the elimination of oppressive foreign and domestic policies, nonviolent options for conflict resolution, and an end to the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. The Commission’s consistent effort has been the promotion of peace through justice and nonviolence. We hold the belief that one by one, we can make a difference and create positive change for the betterment of society as a whole.