Ben Epstein and Ken Miller are two gun owners who enjoy hunting and target practice. Each has educated family members on gun safety. The make sure the firearms are locked and properly stored unless they’re needed for a specific purpose.

On Tuesday, Epstein, 43, of Southfield, and Miller, 56, of Berkley, demonstrated their skills at cutting unwanted firearms into pieces so the parts can’t be recycled. They volunteer for Disarmory Ministries, a new non-profit Christian outreach that hosts gun buybacks. The ministry grew out of Oakland County’s gun buyback program launched in 2022.

They tossed the debris into orange buckets but the parts won’t end up in a landfill. They’re used for art projects, which are sold to raise money for future buyback events, along with T-shirts promoting the program.

Miller said he’s heard too many horror stories about what can happen when a child or adult mishandles a gun.

“I’m not assigning blame or anything like that, but if the gun used at Oxford had been locked up, maybe (the shooting) wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Janet John of Clinton Township watched the Epstein and Miller work Tuesday with satisfaction. Her two nephews and niece are still recovering from the trauma they endured after surviving the 2021 Oxford High School shooting. In 2023, her brother-in-law’s niece, Alexandria “Alex” Verner, 20, of Clawson, died in the Michigan State University shooting.

John, whose own daughter is now 20, joined Moms Demand Action and campaigns for laws to protect people from gun violence. She celebrated the Extreme Risk Protection Act signed into law last year, which bars firearms purchase or possession by individuals deemed at risk of self harm or harming others.

Disarmory will host regular buyback events from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Friday and Saturday at Greenfield Presbyterian Church, 2312 Greenfield Road in Berkley. Anyone in Michigan can use the program. Disarmory rents one of the church parking lots to do the work.

The Rev. Chris Yaw, pastor at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Southfield, said a study published by the Journal of American Medical Association indicates a quarter of the 100 million firearms owned by Americans belong to people. JAMA’s study recommended creating easier ways for people to get rid of unwanted firearms. Since 2022, Yaw helped plan several one-day gun buybacks, working with Oakland County and police departments. But he wanted a regular service to help people, so he cofounded Disarmory Ministries, which is registered as a nonprofit with the state and awaiting federal approval by the IRS. Yaw is also the group’s president.

Rita Spiller of Southfield is a Disarmory volunteer. She used an earlier buyback to dispose of two police service weapons. They belonged to her late father, a former state police trooper, and her late aunt, a retired police officer.

“I’m not into guns,” said Spiller, 70, adding she has eliminated some anxiety, a common refrain she hears from others who bring firearms to the buyback events.

Disarmory offers gifts cards from Kroger or Meijer in exchange for unwanted firearms, with a limit of $300 per donation:

• $50 for a long gun.

• $100 for a pistol.

• $200 for an assault weapon.

Greg DuRoss, who recently moved to Berkley after living in other states for 40 years, is a St. David’s congregant and Disarmory volunteer. Coming home released a flood of memories for the native Detroiter, including stopping for a red light near Chalmers Street and I-94 and seeing another driver pointing a gun at him. He hit the gas and escaped.

Bishop Bonnie A. Perry of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, blessed the two chop saws that are used to cut up the firearms so they can’t be recycled.

She said she has no problem with hunters or sport shooters. She just wants families to avoid two common tragedies: A child finding an unsecured firearm and getting shot or shooting someone else, and the risk to people who struggle with thoughts of suicide. And getting rid of unwanted firearms can end constant anxiety about them, she said.

Mike Otto, a retired medical doctor from Ann Arbor, attended Disarmory Ministries’ debut as a member of Physicians for the Prevention of Gun Violence. He said studies have shown that people considering suicide often act on impulse. Having an unsecured firearm in the home increases the risk. For more than five years, firearms have been the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 17, he said.

County Commissioner Marcia Gershenson, a Bloomfield Township Democrat, and long-time gun disposal advocate, said she’s grateful for the program.

Disarmory Ministries supports the county’s goal of making communities safer, she said.

The nonprofit will work with federal, state, county and local law enforcement, Yaw said. He’s helped dispose of 650 firearms since he started hosting buyback events in 2022.

Learn more by calling (313) 855-5671 or visiting https://disarmory.org.