No matter which position you've chosen in the national debate about guns, one thing is certain: where illegal weapons are concerned, in the wrong hands and under the wrong circumstances, innocent lives can too easily be lost. That's why an inventive Connecticut-based jewelry maker is taking the phrase "statement jewelry" and giving it a whole new definition, repurposing bullets into bangles and donating proceeds to a local gun buyback amnesty program. 

The Caliber Collection, a division of Jewelry for a Cause, is a series of cuffs and bangles comprised of gunmetal and bullet casings that were seized by the Newark Police Department and given with special permission to the brand, which imprints serial numbers onto each resulting piece and gives funds back to Newark's Gun Buyback Amnesty Program, an organization doing everything it can to get illegal guns off the streets and out of the hands of unregistered owners.  As for the brand's double entendre, its website explains succinctly: "The name Caliber was chosen for its two meanings; the caliber of a gun and how the caliber of a city is raised when illegal guns are taken off its streets."

The collection's elements, ranging from $150 to $375, are available in steel or brass; each material has been fashioned into four different types of bracelets -- namely, cuffs and bangles with and without a diamond embedded in the metal.  The collection (and its clearly timely mission) has been covered by media outlets from The New York Times and CBS Evening News to Inc., TIME and Fast Company.  Eager to join the larger conversation with a note on the fact that objects of destruction can be repurposed into things of beauty, helping to transform an entire community in the process, the concept gives hope that such symbolism can foster intelligent, open dialogue and positive action.  

Want to learn more about The Caliber Collection?  Click here.