Guns to Gardens in One Act

Garrett VeneKlasen | Copper Avenue Parking Lot

A public act to destroy something that only exists to destroy.

This past Saturday, Garrett VeneKlasen sawed his AK-47 in half while two dozen or so people stood around to watch in a parking lot on Copper Avenue in Albuquerque. It was an overt act meant to express how he feels as a gun owner, maybe how many people feel. At a time when so many people say they want something to happen but they don’t seem to agree exactly what they should do, VeneKlasen did something. “As a gun owner, I am complacent as well,” said VeneKlasen.

The gun halved, the parts were scooped up and forged into gardening tools by a smith with a little portable furnace and an anvil. The new tools were a bit heavy, the metal dense and kind of clunky. One thing is for sure, now that gun is something else.