KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Central Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri, is preparing to launch a safe firearm surrender site.

“The neighborhood we are in, as recently as last weekend, there were shootings right within the church’s boundaries almost,” said Mary Merola, an elder at the church. “We see it happen all the time.”

The church is located at 3501 Campbell St.

Merola also is a member of the church’s Safe Surrender Task Force.

She told KSHB 41 that church leadership has been waiting for the right opportunity to promote safety in the community.

“While we believe in prayer and good thoughts, we are an action-oriented group,” Merola said. “Our goal was to make a tangible difference in our community of getting weapons off the street.”

The new initiative is in conjunction with Guns for Garden,a faith-based organization.

“What we found in terms of common ground with Guns to Garden; it allowed a safe surrender of unwanted weapons,” Merola said.

“RAWtools’ mission to “disarm hearts and forge peace” is driven by our ability to make a choice about the tools we use to navigate conflict,” according to the group’s website.

“We’ve done our due diligence in researching and evaluating,” Merola said.

The process to donate an unwanted firearm is anonymous. Guns to Garden policy decommissions guns according to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency standards.

Members of the media and law enforcement are not allowed during the surrender event.

Those who want to surrender a weapon will drive into the rear parking lot of Central Presbyterian Church.

They will be greeted by volunteers, and once staff is ready to dismember the weapon, a trained firearms expert will break down the surrendered gun and make sure it isn’t loaded.

Staff stationed with power tools will then cut the weapon into pieces so it can no longer be used.

Those surrendering weapons will have the option to participate in prayer or counseling from trained volunteers.

“We want the individuals to be completely comfortable with surrendering that unwanted weapon,” said Merola. “Law enforcement has their place. We know they are professionals and very concerned about the problem. Their approach is a law enforcement approach. Ours is a safe surrender. They are two different things.”

Guns to Garden will take the weapon scraps and forge the material into gardening tools.

George Rousis, a local blacksmith operating Organic Iron Concepts, will form the material into a tool.

“All my work has been about making things more fluid and more living as far as taking a cold hard object and giving it a little bit of life.” Rousis told KSHB 41.

For the time being, Rousis doesn’t know what tool will come to mind until he sees the firearm itself.

His work allows for a piece of the material’s former use to be showcased in the final product. He, alongside Central Presbyterian Church, agree on the mission of creating a safer community for the next generation.

“I grew up around guns, hunting in Pennsylvania, living in a small town,” Rousis said. “Guns were an every day thing, but not a problem necessarily. Handguns don’t seem to be necessary and certainly assault rifles and automatic or semi-automatic guns don’t seem to really have a place in our society.”

Rousis told KSHB 41 that last week a person brandished a firearm at him. That wasn’t the first time it happened. Rousis and his children were in the Westport Entertainment District when someone pulled a gun on them.

Jake Weller/KSHB

“Shaun Brady and what just happened in Brookside, which is a shame that happened in Brookside, but it shouldn’t have happened anywhere in town,” he said. “I think lots of good can come out of it. Some little kid in a house can’t have the opportunity to pick up a gun that was there before. That gun won’t have the opportunity to get in the wrong hands if it’s disposed of this way.”

Central Presbyterian Church leadership told KSHB 41 its goal with the event is to encourage the community to surrender firearms responsibly.

The church is not buying the guns to put the weapons back into circulation.

Church leaders said the weapons and its owners will be in a safe and nurturing environment, regardless of how the weapon may have been used in its lifetime.

“It is not our concern about serial numbers or how the weapon may have been used.” Rousis said. “Our purpose is these people want these weapons out of their homes. They want an outlet so these weapons can be chopped up and not used as weapons again. It’s not our mission to do investigative work. We know the model has been successful and that’s why the model is right for us.”

KSHB 41 asked Rousis if the church was permitted by the city or state to surrender firearms. Rousis said Guns to Garden operates its policies and practices and permits are not needed.

“Tragically, crime happens every day, and death happens every day,” he said. “We are confident it will be a positive outcome for this event.”

Central Presbyterian Church is seraching for volunteers to work at the safe surrender event.

The church held held a meeting Tuesday night to explain the program to interested volunteers. Training sessions for volunteers will be held September 16th and 18th ahead of the October 12th surrender event.

For more information on the event, call 816-931-2515 or visit their website.

KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. Share your story idea with Ryan.

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