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About RAWtools South

Find out more about who we are as the Asheville branch of RAWtools. Read more about our parent organzation here.

Donate a Gun

What We Do

Making Tools in Asheville

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.

metal dough cutter on a table on an outside porch

Get Connected Near Asheville

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….”

2025

  • October 15 – 6:30-7:30 p.m. Lecture, Cultural Life Program, Furman University, Plyer Hall, 126, Patrick Lecture Hall Greenville, SC
  • October 16-19 Blacksmith Demonstration: Guns to tools & Forging for Peace at LEAF Festival, Black Mountain, NC. Details Here
  • November 1 – 11:00am – 12:30 p.m. Blacksmithing Demonstration and Conversation. Myers Park Presbyterian Church.
  • November 19-20 – RAWtools Firearm Safety Officer Training, Philadelphia, PA. Details Here
  • November 21-23 – Peacemaker Summit, sponsored by RAWtools Philly, The Simple Way, and Others, Details Here

2026

  • February 20-21 – RAWtools Firearm Safety Officer Training, Weaverville, NC. Details Here
  • March 13-15 – Peace Building Conference of the United Methodist Church Southeastern Judicatory, Lake Junaluska, NC
  • March 28 – Guns to Gardens Safe Disposal Event, Athens, GA, Details to Come
  • May 4-8- ARW 2026 – Arts, Recreation & Worship Conference, Montreat, NC. Scotty will be teaching folks how to make brass split crosses in the afternoon workshops. Details Here.
  • May 30 – Guns to Gardens Safe Disposal Event, Charlotte, NC, Details to Come
  • June 13 – Guns to Gardens Safe Disposal Event, Raleigh, NC, Details to Come

Get in Touch with 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

part of a disassembled gun sitting on an anvil outdoors

Shop the RAWtools Store

Philadelphia

Browse the unique products from our Philadelphia shop. You can donate a gun and join the local and/or national disarming network as well.
Shop Philly

Colorado Springs

Browse the unique products from our flagship Colorado Springs shop. You can donate a gun and join the local and/or national disarming network as well.
Shop Colorado Springs

Asheville

Browse the unique products from our Asheville, North Carolina, shop. You can donate a gun and join the local and/or national disarming network as well.
Shop Asheville