Have some old guns lying around? Consider turning them into farm tools! That’s exactly what officials in India are trying to do. Officials in Bihar, a crime ridden state in India, have decided in an attempt to cut down on the levels of crime in the city that they should do away with the guns as well. They are asking local blacksmiths, who often work on roadsides in makeshift furnaces to turn country-made pistols (or kattas) into farm and gardening tools such as hoes, clippers, sickles, and shovels.

At present there are more than 60,000 illegal firearms that have been confiscated and stored in police lockers across Bihar. This is a way that Bihar, still a fairly rural community on the outskirts of town, can have productive and constructive products rather than have guns sitting laying waste in a storage locker somewhere. This is like taking gun safety to a whole new level!

While the opinions about the new initiative are mixed, many agree that this will make for fewer illegal guns on the street, more readily available farm tools for poor farmers, and increased paid work for black smiths. Overall, I think this is a great story about local innovation and the good that discarded (or ceased) firearms can do for small communities if the right thoughts are put into it!

More information available here.