Special Public Event: Education, Demonstration
BRATTLEBORO – Swords to Plowshares, Vermont held a special public educational and demonstration event on Sunday May 4, 2025, from 12-3 PM, on the grounds of Saint Michael’s Episcopal Church, 16 Bradley Avenue, Brattleboro, VT.
This event featured a live demonstration of the process for transforming unwanted firearms into garden tools. Attendees also had 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, were available, along with literature about safe gun storage.
The late retired Episcopal Bishop of Vermont, the Rt. Rev. Thomas Ely, who served as Swords to Plowshares, VT president, said, “Symbols are powerful. Our hope is that the symbolic transformation of firearms to garden tools and works of art will raise awareness and send a positive and hopeful message.”
Windham County Sheriff Mark Anderson, a member of the Swords to Plowshares, VT board offers this perspective: “In my law enforcement career, I’ve responded to more suicides with firearms than crimes. 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 was part of a series of free events open to the public. Swords to Plowshares, VT is a Vermont nonprofit corporation and has tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status. For more information about Swords to Plowshares, VT, email info@swordsplowsharesvt.org.
In the News
- Turning weapons into tools, Brattleboro event looks to shine light on gun violence prevention“In Vermont, the percentage of death by suicide is very, very high,” Ely said. “And we’re also concerned about … veterans, and especially veterans who are dealing with PTSD and other issues.”Curry agreed. “Unsecured guns in the homes are a major factor in suicide by gun. In fact, two-thirds of all gun deaths — we’re… Read more: Turning weapons into tools, Brattleboro event looks to shine light on gun violence prevention
- Swords To Plowshares Turns Guns Into ToolsSwords to Plowshares, a gun safety and violence prevention program, is coming to Brattleboro.Founded in 2017, the small not-for-profit operates on-site forges in Connecticut and travels to other states on request to turn bought-back and turned-in guns into tools and implements of nurture. Read The Full Article: Brattleboro Reformer 4/26/2023
- Weapons Of Death Into tools of life“We are not about taking guns away from people,” he says. “It’s about safe usage and safe storage of weapons.”Available at the event will be free gun safety locks and information about gun safety, mental health, suicide prevention, and how-to dispose of firearms safely and securely. Read The Full Article: The Commons 4/25/2023