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From the Streets to Your Wrist

January 28, 2013 06:44 PM ET | Joanna Buffum | Permanent Link

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Newark Mayor Cory Booker has been outspoken in his support for gun control. Now he’s trying to raise money for a Newark gun buyback by helping promote a bracelet line made from the city’s melted guns and bullet casings.

The new collection from Jessica Mindich’s Connecticut-based for-profit company Jewelry for a Cause was prompted by lack of funding for Newark’s Gun Buyback Amnesty program, last held in 2011. Booker decided that recycling the city’s weapons into a “powerful symbol of renewal” would raise awareness about gun control and buyback programs.

The Newark Police Department collected 250 guns and bullet casings from crime scenes and from anonymous city residents, and Sims Metal Management in Jersey City processed the weapons.

The jewelry line actually went on sale in late November just before the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting intensified the debate on gun control. Booker wrote a blog entry for the Huffington Post in the wake of the Newtown tragedy, where he outlined his ideas for gun reform, including universal background checks that involve mental health assessments and more efficient anti-trafficking laws. However, Senator Lautenberg has criticized Booker for taking a relatively moderate stance on gun control considering Newark’s high gun crime rate.

The bracelets are made of brass or steel, and are engraved with “Newark” on one side and the former weapon’s serial number on the other. Prices range from $150 to $375, and the most expensive cuffs and bangles feature an .11-carat diamond embedded next to the serial number.

A portion of the profits will help fund future gun buybacks in Newark. The collection has raised $20,000 since it debuted. You can buy the pieces online at calibercollection.com.

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Comments
Bracelets from Melted Down Guns

In the article, the comment was made that collecting the guns that are then melted down saves one life per gun. I submit that it saves zero lives. You are assuming that each person who turned in a gun was going to use it to kill someone. The people who are going to kill someone will kill someone. And they will not turn in the gun afterwards. It is a neat idea to turn a gun into a bracelet, sort of like beating swords into plowshares. I hope the people who turned in their gun will never need it to defend themselves from the very bad people who would want to rob or kill them.

Posted by: Chuck Jakubisin, San Antonio, TX | Feb 16, 2013 00:55:19 AM |

gun braclets

...this is one braclet I would never take off

Posted by: frieda Young, Brighton Michigan | Feb 17, 2013 12:46:50 PM |