ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A collaboration of organizations are working together to reduce the amount of guns in the streets of St. Louis. But it's what they do with the guns that makes them unique.
A new program beginning in St. Louis helps turns firearms into art and tools. The program is a collaboration between multiple organizations including Churches Together Through Justice.
Julie Burchett, the group's gun violence preventer, says they learned of this initiative in Colorado through an organization.
"They decided to start this program to see if they could get people to trade in their guns for any number of reasons," said Burchett.
The organization in Colorado also happened to bring local St. Louis organizations together at a training seminar.
"Some of the folks here in St. Louis were on these trainings," said Burchett. "We didn't know each other before, but hey there were a lot us from St. Louis, so let's do something."
Churches Together Through Justice has only held one firearm collection so far but they say they have plans to hold another one by the end of the year.
After the guns are collected, they then take the collected guns and melt them down, and then turned into unique items.
"They will go to a blacksmith, be melted down and be made into garden tools or garden sculptures," said Burchett.
They say they would need to collect more guns to have their first sculpture built.