By Jenine Pilla, Ciara Sheerin, & Betsey Carroll
RAWTools Philly is a Kensington-based non-profit that aims to take guns off the street by destroying and repurposing them into art, jewelry, and gardening tools. Shane Claiborne founded the organization in 2011 at the same time that RAWTools was launched in Colorado by Mike and Hannah Martin.
RawTools Philly logo which has the Philadelphia LOVE symbol on an anvil surrounded by leaves.
Since then, RAWTools Philly has destroyed thousands of guns and repurposed them. In addition to gun destruction and repurposing, RAWTools Philly also works to change policies and challenge the culture of violence. To do so, they work closely with the community and provide resources on de-escalation, violence interruption, peacemaking, restorative justice, conflict resolution, and nonviolence trainings.
A Spotlight on the Peacemaker Summit
Since 2024, RAWTools Philly has hosted two annual Peacemaker Summits, both of which the DATA CoLab was able to support. The second annual Peacemaker Summit was held in November 2025 and included two days of sessions on peacemaking, musical performances, and hands-on workshops in welding, woodturning, and blacksmithing. Peacemaking sessions included sessions on Kingian Nonviolence, de-escalation, global peacemaking, and restorative justice. Additionally, attendees were able to hear stories from peacemakers engaging in violence prevention and interruption.
The DATA CoLab supported the summit by hosting a session on restorative justice. Kensington coordinator Jenine Pilla collaborated with Germantown coordinator Christina Hasaan to support this event. For the session, Christina facilitated a restorative justice conversation with experts from around Philadelphia: Reverend Dr. Donna Jones, Drick Boyd, and Jarue Lawson. The conversation centered on building capacity for restorative justice in communities. Panelists explored the role of Restorative Justice in addressing harm and healing within the community, which included discussion on the multiple pathways to healing, restoring and rebuilding communities with an emphasis on community-led circles and mediation processes. The panel also highlighted the importance of building people-first relationships as community anti-violence leaders.
Further Collaboration with the DATA CoLab
In addition to supporting the two annual Peacemaker Summits, RAWTools Philly and the DATA CoLab have collaborated to build out RAWTools Philly’s Guns to Gardens project. This collaboration includes developing a data collection tool, formalizing their standard operating procedures at safe surrender events and gun destruction processes, and creating and implementing certifications for various gun destruction methods.
Their data collection tool is a mechanism for RAWTools Philly to track gun destruction and other resource requests. The information gathered includes the zip code of the request; who is making the request (individual, group, law enforcement, etc.); the type, quantity, and serial numbers of firearms for gun destruction requests; if the appointment will be at RAWTools Philly or offsite; and internal data on if the request was able to be completed. Tracking this data will allow RAWTools Philly to better measure their impact and reach for both gun destruction and other services. Additionally, this data will help operationalize RAWTools Philly’s work, identify potential barriers, and tailor their services to better meet the needs they are seeing in requests.
In addition to formalizing data collection, RAWTools Philly has been working with the DATA CoLab to formalize their standard operating procedures (SOP) for safe surrender events. The SOP details firearm safety at safe surrender events, including requirements for firearm safety officers, physical space requirements for events, safe handling of surrendered firearms, and more. This not only ensures that firearm safety officers are adhering to consistent and formal procedures, but also that both team members and members of the public are safe at these events.
Finally, the DATA CoLab and RAWTools Philly have collaborated to build out RAWTools Philly’s certification curriculum. RAWTools Philly aims to create and implement certifications for various gun destruction methods, blacksmithing, woodworking, firearm safety, and related skills. These certifications will enable RAWTools Philly to expand its initiative, both within Philadelphia and beyond, increasing their capacity to further their mission of removing guns from the streets. The certifications curriculum guide will lay out all of their certification offerings (Firearms Safety Officer certification, Chopsaw Operator certification, Basic Welding certification, and more), and the courses, apprenticeships, and other requirements to obtain those certifications.
Conclusion
RAWTools Philly is doing hands-on and on-the-ground work in Kensington and beyond to ensure that guns are taken off the streets and people have the tools needed to prevent, de-escalate, and interrupt violence. Ensuring that this work is tracked, standardized and made safe helps RAWTools Philly expand their mission and advocacy work. The DATA CoLab is thrilled to be a part of this amazing work.
Acknowledgements
The DATA CoLab is honored to work with organizations like RawTools Philly. We welcome feedback, comments, and inquiries to collaborate with the CoLab or support for the associated community partners at [email protected].
The DATA CoLab is made possible through funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD).