"Into The Firenado"

What the heck am I looking at? That is a common and understandable response. This piece was born a few years back when I was watching a video of a massive wildfire out in California, Over 1 million acres in size! This blaze was so large and the heat was so tremendous that it produced its own weather with lightening and tornados. Tornados made out of fire! I was amazed by the power and severity of these firestorms. I fabricated the tornado portion of the piece, set it aside and ignored it for three years.

I have learned in the creative world that an art piece is never finished, its simply abandoned. And…so, it sat for three years, but never out of my periphery, teasing at me to finish the piece.

Well, in the summer of 2024, tragedy occurred in Charlotte, North Carolina. A gunman ambushed law enforcement when they came to his home to serve a warrant. He managed to shoot 8 officers, killing 4. That’s a 50% kill rate on heathy, fit men in their prime, with ballistic gear and training. I told my wife that only an assault style weapon could likely cause that level of damage. That event has really impacted our lives and that of our community. We say it over and over, “When are we going to finally do something about this tragic violence?”

Mass shooting are a common occurrence in this country, several hundred a year. We are numb to the violence and our politicians have failed us for so long, we have no confidence in their desire to resolve any aspect of this violence. Money, power and the gun lobby rule the day, our system has failed us miserably.

But…It gave me an idea, a way to express my thoughts and create a message powerful enough to get some traction.

Full disclosure, I am a gun owner, I possess 2 handguns. Also, about 20 years ago, I came into possession of 2 “AR-15” style assault rifles. I bought them off a friend that was raising funds for a business venture. After I purchased the rifles, I took them to a gun range a couple of times to see how they would perform. They did not disappoint, the tremendous power and accuracy was extraordinary. It was fun to shoot them off for a little afternoon entertainment. But then what? I put them in a cabinet and largely ignored them for the next two decades.

With increasing levels of gun violence year after year, I became concerned about having them in the house. I wanted to get rid of them, but I did not want to sell them in the open market, potentially placing them in the hands of someone with less than noble intentions.

What is a semi-automatic rifle used for? A 306 rifle is ideal for deer hunting, Shotguns work well for birds and effective home protection. Hand guns provide security and protection on the road. AR-15 style rifles have one purpose, as originally designed for the military, that purpose is to kill humans. It is a very effective machine for that purpose. Somewhere between 2.5 and 4 million of these rifles are produced each year, depending on definition. That is a tremendous amount of human killing machines to flood the market each year. Give that some thought.

I went to the ATF website to ensure that I would destroy the rifles properly, so they would never be able to harm anyone. That solved the problem of how to repurpose these machines. I cut them in pieces, bending some in my forge and then welding them inside the Firenado. Hence, the title “Into The Firenado”.

Some may say, What is the corollary between Firenados and assault rifles? Good question. Well, assault rifles are created by humans and no doubt, exact a great violence and death on other humans.The size and frequency of wildfires continues to rise. We know that many of them are man made and they exact a great toll on human life and property. So…Why not throw all the assault rifles into the Firenado?!

Greg Marshall