Easter offers hope for Michigan pastors battling gun violence with buybacks, rallies – By Niraj Warikoo (Detroit Free Press) / March 31, 2024
Hanging on a wall inside the office of a Southfield church is a sculpture that reads “Peace” made out of the parts of what was once a gun.
On a table in front, the Very Rev. Chris Yaw of St. David’s Episcopal Church laid out on Good Friday some other pieces of art he recently collected, made from guns collected at buybacks: a cross made of barrels, a necklace fashioned from pieces of a gun grip, and a small plowshare crafted from gun pieces symbolizing the Bible verse about turning swords into plowshares.
The art is one way that Yaw has been working to combat gun violence over the past couple of years since the Oxford High School and Michigan State University shootings brought renewed attention to the problem. His church has already held two buyback sessions that collected about 350 guns from local residents in exchange for gift certificates at stores. Yaw, the church’s rector for 16 years, recalls the 2-mile-long line of cars outside his church on 12 Mile Road eager to dispose of their guns. As he and others celebrate Easter, the holiday’s message brings hope for their plans to help reduce gun violence in Michigan.
