• by Larissa Faw , November 1, 2017

Cross Pens is teaming with lifestyle brand Liberty United and agency Madison Avenue Social to raise awareness for gun violence in the U.S. The “Transform a Gun. Transform a Life” social media campaign supports the joint program that transforms the remnants of confiscated illegal guns and ammunition into handcrafted Cross X Liberty United Collector’s Edition Pens.

The initiative aims to "shift cultural mindset" and "encourage the creation of writing instruments as weapons." The creative contains a hats off  to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois for their efforts in transforming the remnants of confiscated illegal guns and ammunition. The campaign is running across Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

In addition to Cook County, police departments in New Orleans, Newburgh, NY, Philadelphia, and Syracuse are partnering with Liberty United and Cross Pens to expand this national effort. The project has already received 5,000 guns from its law enforcement partners.

The Cross management team, under the leadership of Robert Baird, first began collaborating with Liberty United founder Peter Thum, back in 2015, when Thum's other company "Fonderie 47" began melting down illegal confiscated AK47’s in Africa. The two companies then launched a special collector’s item pen.

After Thum launched Liberty United in 2016, Cross expressed interest in developing a similar project in the U.S. The pens are available in all Cross sales distribution outlets, in stores & online. Cross purchases the gun metal from Liberty United and incorporates the material into its pens along with the serial number of the gun. Cross then sells the pens and gives Thum a percentage of the sales. Liberty United is donating 20% of all of its profits to fund after school programs for at-risk children.

Madison Avenue Social hopes its work will "put issues of gun violence prevention on the kitchen table," says Deirdre Catucci, president, Madison Avenue Social. "It's a profound responsibility which we take very personally."