Cops shred guns, artists to make sculpture

Corey Moore
KPCC
Nov 15, 2010

More than 1,000 weapons were destroyed at SA Recycling in San Pedro. Artists will use the leftovers to build a peace angel sculpture in Los Angeles. (Corey Moore/KPCC)

At a recycling plant in San Pedro, Los Angeles County law enforcement officials watched as weapons they’d seized went into a shredder. They say area artists will use the scrap metal from shotguns, pistols and knives to build a peace angel sculpture in LA.

LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck said this is the first time law enforcement agencies have donated potentially lethal raw materials to a non-policing organization.

“It shows what the city and county of Los Angeles are all about," Beck said. "It shows that we take a stand as a community, as artists, as cops, as reporters, as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers ... that we take a stand against gun violence. And it’s important to us that that stand is represented.”

The non-profit Art of Peace Charitable Trust plans the 3 foot peace angel sculpture as part of a larger monument in downtown LA.