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Detroit Gallery Sells Art Made From Confiscated Guns [VIDEO]

DETROIT (WWJ) - From a crime scene to the showroom floor -- A new Detroit gallery is selling sculptures made from confiscated weapons and ammunition.

Doug Schwartz, who owns Detroit Wick in Eastern Market, explained what this edgy art is all about.

"We get all illegal guns that are either swept from crime scenes or turned in through buyback or amnesty programs," he told WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeill.

Detroit Wick Gif
(credit: Sandra McNeill/WWJ)

"They're then made inoperable and they're sent to us to either have shredded or they come shredded."

Detroit Wick (3)
(credit: Sandra McNeill/WWJ)

The shredded pieces of the guns and ammo — dubbed "shreds" — are placed in showcases. Shoppers can browse the recycled fragments, choose which they want, and have them encapsulated in Lucite, a solid transparent plastic similar to plastic.

Some of it is quite pricey.

"So, this piece is a mantlepiece, and usually 50 shells go in that, and that's like a $2,500 thing," Schwartz said, pointing out a particular item. "When you get a full firearm, it gets up there."

Schwartz said he expects the art, which is priced anywhere from $400 to $7,000, to eventually be seen at high-end showrooms around the world.

They're donating 20 percent of sales to help families devastated by gun violence and fund buyback and amnesty programs, Schwartz said.

Detroit Wick (2)
(credit: Sandra McNeill/WWJ)

"For the person who likes guns, this is a work of art," he said, "and the people who don't like guns, it's for the cause."

Detroit Wick also sells candles.

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