RAWtools South (Asheville)

We are a growing gaggle of Southerners based in Asheville, NC and drawn together by RAWtools mission of disarming hearts, forging peace, and cultivating justice. Staffed by Scotty Utz and Stan Wilson, our volunteer blacksmiths and inspiring friends include Alex Krug, Dan Davis, Hagan Brooks, and aspiring young blacksmiths in partnership with Hood Huggers International.

We launched RAWtools South in January of 2024, and we’ve been busy. We’d love to come to your community, so please reach out with any inquiry.

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Make Tools in Asheville

What We Do

  • We transform guns into garden tools, art, and jewelry.
  • We offer blacksmithing demonstrations, allowing others to see, hear, and feel the transformation.
  • We bring our trained facilitators and all of the equipment to run safe-surrender (a.k.a gun buybacks) events in your community
  • We work with congregations and civic groups to reduce gun violence through events, workshops, conferences, and worship services.
  • Our insurance travels with us to cover liability and volunteers.
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Get Connected Near Asheville

2024 Forging Ahead

RAWtools South launched in January 2024, and since then we’ve stocked a “safe surrender trailer,” full of everything needed to support a safe surrender event. We’ve also hit the road with forges and chop saws to dismantle over 100 guns, spread the word about our work, and join a growing number of communities who are already practicing the vision of Isaiah to “beat their swords into plowshares . . .”
  • January 2-5 - Forging and Workshop at Montreat College Conference: Necessary Risks, Montreat, NC
  • January 15 - MLK Day Forging at the Peace Garden on Burton Street, Asheville, NC
  • January 19-21 - Forging and Speaking at Gun Violence Prevention Peacemaking Summit, First Presbyterian Church, Raleigh, NC
  • February 24 - Guns to Gardens Event Support with Evergreen Presbyterian in Memphis, TN
  • March 6 - Forging, Retreat Facilitation, Preaching at Gun Violence Prevention Summit, Davidson College Presbyterian Church, Davidson, NC
  • April 16-17 - Workshop with Faith Leaders for Ending Gun Violence at the Post-Evangelical Collective, Raleigh, NC
  • April 13 - Forging at the Makers Faire, Asheville, NC
  • April 27 - Forging at Fire on the Mountain, Spruce Pine, NC
  • May 4- Guns to Gardens in Charleston, WV. Sponsored by Village Chapel Presbyterian, First
  • May 9-12 - Blacksmithing Demonstration at LEAF in Black Mountain, NC
  • June 8 - Guns to Gardens Event Support at First Baptist Church, Asheville, NC
Contact Us

Invite us to Your Community

Contact us if you’re ready to host a gun surrender event . . . or if you're not ready and would like to help start a conversation in your community about gun violence reduction.

Contact us if you want to forge with others in your community . . . or if you’re stuck and need some ideas.

Courage and hope are contagious, and we’d like to catch yours.

infosouth@rawtools.org
Stan Wilson, coordinator
Scotty Utz, blacksmith/artist

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