Guns to Gardens KC: A Free, Safe, & Anonymous Way to Dispose of Unwanted Firearms

Guns to Gardens Kansas City is a nonprofit that strives to reduce gun violence, and increase community safety by offering a free, safe, & anonymous way for people to legally dispose of unsafe, unusable, or unwanted firearms. Rather than returning those weapons to circulation, they are permanently dismantled and repurposed into garden tools and other life-affirming items, giving tangible expression to the ancient hope of “beating swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:4).

Since 2024, Guns to Gardens events in Kansas City have helped remove and repurpose about 150 firearms from circulation. In 2026, we have continued to expand this work beyond a single location by hosting disposal events across the greater Kansas City area, making safe firearm disposal more accessible to more neighborhoods.

Watch the video to learn more!

  • Safety
    Many firearms sitting in homes are damaged, inherited, unused, or no longer safely functional. Guns to Gardens Kansas City offers a legal way to dispose of unsafe, unusable, or unwanted firearms before they become a risk to children, grandchildren, theft, accidents, or misuse.

  • Healing
    For many people, firearms are connected to grief, trauma, military service, domestic violence, suicide, or community violence. Participating can be a meaningful step toward healing and ensuring those firearms are not recirculated or used to harm someone else.

  • Transformation
    Rather than sitting forgotten in a closet or returning to the marketplace, firearms are permanently dismantled and repurposed into garden tools and artwork - transforming objects associated with harm into symbols of life, growth, and peace.

Why would people want to dispose of a firearm?

Some of the stories we’ve heard from participants:

  • A family brought in firearms severely damaged in a house fire nearly two decades ago because they no longer wanted unsafe guns sitting in their home waiting to be inherited.

  • One participant turned in a revolver with a crack along the top that was no longer safe to fire or store.

  • Some participants came because they inherited firearms they neither wanted nor felt comfortable keeping.

  • Families affected by suicide have brought firearms returned to them by law enforcement after a loved one’s death.

  • Teachers, students, military members, police officers, and survivors of violence have participated because firearms carried painful memories.

  • Others participated simply because they wanted their firearms permanently dismantled instead of resold or recirculated.