A small group of parishioners gathered Friday under canopies pitched in the Christ Church Episcopal Parish parking lot in Lake Oswego to watch “the destruction of a weapon” and to pray “for an end to violence, for peace on Earth.”
With scripture, songs and prayers, the group witnessed the dismantling of the AR-15 rifle that the Rev. Jeremy Lucas had won earlier this year in a raffle sponsored by a Gresham softball team. On hand to help destroy the weapon was Mike Martin from RAWtools, a Colorado Springs-based Christian organization that repurposes weapons into hand tools.
Using a circular saw with a special blade, Martin and Lucas cut the weapon into several pieces and then forged the pieces into garden implements.
“We’ve destroyed dozens of guns or parts of guns,” Martin said. “Some people have willingly given up their guns; some are confiscated by police. But 90–plus percent of the guns we disable are donated by individuals.”
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