Newark Mayor Cory Booker has an unconventional and creative way to get rid of guns: melt them down and make jewelry.
"The city has raised $20,000 for gun buyback programs by melting down weapons recovered by police and sending them to Jewelry For A Cause, a company that takes the liquidated firearms and fashions them into silver and brass adornments valued at up to $375," said the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
Booker announced the program on MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show."
"Everybody has the power to do something little," he said. "Something small and to make a difference."
Jewelry For A Cause founder Jessica Mindich met with Booker, and the pair concocted the "Caliber Collection," two types of bracelets.
"Split into two categories - the Steel 250 collection made of former guns, and the Brass 250 collection created out of shell casings from crime scenes - the bracelets are simple and understated, adorned only by an engraved serial number of a gun taken out of circulation by the city's buyback program or through other means used by the city's officers," reported CBS Connecticut.
"Some feature small diamond accents and an additional imprint commemorating the efforts of Newark's police force."
"We were talking about gun violence and the challenges in Newark and she had this company and she and I sort of hatched this idea," said Booker. "In less than a year she had this product done."
The bracelets went on sale Nov. 28. Since then, the program has sold more than 400, raising over $20,000, which will go to fund future gun buyback programs.
Buy your own and support the program at the Caliber Collection.