Source: Trueactivist Image: pedroreyes

We all know gun to be a killing machine or self-defence machine as the many say, but have we ever heard of the other side of the much talked weapon?

Pedro Reyes is an artist from Culiacan in Mexico, the city with the highest rate of gun deaths. He is an inspired artist who likes to focus on the failures of modern culture in a positive light. Living with this perception, he moulds the things which people see as broken objects.

He saw something positive that could come out of a gun and therefore, started a campaign asking residents to hand over their guns in exchange of a coupon which could be used to buy electronics or household appliances.

He was part of the project Palas por Pistolas that aimed to curb the trade of small weapons. As many as 1,527 guns collected for the project were molded into gardening tools. These tools were then distributed to a number of art institutions and public schools, where people in the community are now using them to plant a minimum of 1,527 trees. The campaign broke the national record of voluntary donation.

Almost 40% of the guns collected were of the military caliber which were smashed by a steamroller. Some of the shovels have even made their way to the Vancouver Art Gallery, the San Francisco Art Institute, Maison Rouge in Paris and other locations around the world.

One can really wonder, how can a killing machine can turn out to be a life support system.