Guns to Gardens: Gun Buyback Program
"And they shall forge their swords into plowshares." — Isaiah 2:4
SAVE, in association with St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Oakland
NEXT GUN BUYBACK: November 14, 2026
St. Benedict's Catholic Church, 2245 82nd Ave, Oakland
SAVE supports Guns to Gardens, a community gun buyback program run in association with St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Oakland. The program is devoted to getting firearms out of homes, where they pose serious risks to children and to everyone else in the household — and to reforging those weapons into tools for growing food and flowers.
Guns to Gardens Oakland, a firearms surrender event, is coming up on November 14th, from 10 am to 2 pm, at St. Benedict Catholic Church (2245 82nd Ave, Oakland, CA 94605)!
Over the last five years, Guns to Gardens Oakland has hosted six events and received over 500 firearms, all of which will be turned into garden tools. In exchange, community members receive grocery, gas, and store gift cards, soccer and baseball tickets, and garden tools forged from previously surrendered firearms in exchange for the guns.
Guns surrendered in November will again be forged into garden tools.
Given an ever-increasing awareness of the terrible damage done to our community by thousands of guns on our streets, we hope to significantly increase the number of weapons that are surrendered this year. Although these surrendered weapons are not often involved in crimes, they are still subject to theft, suicide, or accidental shootings of children and others. The more guns we can get off our streets, the safer we will all be. We hope this gun buy-back will also serve to further raise consciousness about the need to reduce gun ownership.
The gift card amount an individual receives for a surrendered gun will vary based on the type of weapon, with a maximum of $300.
This event is sponsored by the Oakland Police Department, in coordination with various peace-making and faith-based communities. If you have questions or comments, please contact oakland@bradymail.org or connect on Instagram.
Our most recent buyback
On April 18, 2026, volunteers from Bay Area faith congregations worked alongside the Oakland Police Department to collect 98 firearms, including AK-style rifles, an AR-15, handguns, and two Uzi submachine guns. The event, held in the parking lot of At Thy Word Ministries in East Oakland, was the sixth Guns to Gardens buyback.
Firearms are accepted with no questions asked. Participants receive Target gift cards worth up to $300, along with garden tools forged from weapons surrendered at earlier events. Every serial number is checked by OPD to confirm the firearm wasn't stolen, and the weapon is then disabled. Rifles and shotguns are reforged into garden trowels and tillers.
A firearm in the home dramatically increases the risk of suicide, homicide, and accidental injury to household members. Guns kept at home are also a prime target for theft, after which they are often used in other crimes.
Each buyback costs roughly $10,000 in gift cards and a stipend for the blacksmith. Mayor Barbara Lee has encouraged Guns to Gardens to hold an event every quarter, and the program is seeking additional support from the city and from donors to make that possible.
Photos by Andrew Hawthorn and Cara Meredith.
Meet our blacksmith
John Colle Rogers
To John, forging these guns into garden tools is spiritual — literally transforming a weapon that hurts people into a tool for raising food and flowers.
"If you do a thousand hours of work, you save one life, that's it — that's what it's worth."
THANK YOU JOHN!
How you can help
VOLUNTEER at the next event. Contact Paula Hawthorn at paula.hawthorn@gmail.com
SPREAD THE WORD. Encourage donations, volunteers, and gun drop-off at our next event on November 14, 2026.
Donations to support the Buy Back:
