Escopetarra
Encyclopedia
An escopetarra is a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 made from a modified gun, used as a peace symbol. The name is derived from the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 words escopeta (shotgun) and guitarra (guitar). However, the term "Escopetarra" is, at present, a misnomer, since all escopetarras to date have been fashioned out of rifles, not shotguns.

Escopetarras were invented by Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

n peace activist César López
Cesar Lopez
César López is a Colombian musician. For the past several years, López has been part of a group, the Battalion of Immediate Artistic Reaction, which consists of various other musicians and activists seeking alternatives to the ever-present violence that plagues Colombia and its capital of Bogotá...

 in 2003 at a gathering after the El Nogal Club bombing
2003 El Nogal Club bombing
The 2003 El Nogal Club bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred in Bogotá, Colombia. On February 7, 2003, a car containing 200 kg of explosives that was parked in a garage on the third floor of the multi-story El Nogal club exploded, killing 36 people and wounding more than 200. There were...

 in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

, when he noticed a soldier holding a gun like a guitar. The first escopetarra in 2003 was made from a Winchester rifle
Winchester rifle
In common usage, Winchester rifle usually means any of the lever-action rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though the company has also manufactured many rifles of other action types...

 and a Stratocaster electric guitar.

He initially had five escopetarras built by Colombian luthier Alberto Paredes, four of which were given to Colombian musician Juanes
Juanes
Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez , better known as Juanes is a Colombian musician who was a member of heavy metal band Ekhymosis and is now a solo artist. In 2000, his solo debut album Fíjate Bien won three Latin Grammy Awards.Juanes has sold more than 13 million albums...

, Argentine musician Fito Páez
Fito Páez
Rodolfo "Fito" Páez Ávalos is an Argentine popular rock and roll pianist, lyricist, Spanish language singer and film director.-Early career:...

, the United Nations Development Program, and the city government of Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

, while one was kept for himself. Juanes later sold his escopetarra for US$17,000 at a Beverly Hills fundraiser held to benefit victims of anti-personnel mine
Anti-personnel mine
Anti-personnel mines are a form of land mine designed for use against humans, as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles...

s, while the escopetarra given to the UN was exhibited at the June 2006 of the UN Conference on Disarmament
Conference on Disarmament
Conference on Disarmament is a forum established by the international community to negotiate multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements...

. In 2006, López acquired an additional 12 decommissioned AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...

 assault rifles from Colombia's peace commissioner's office, with plans to convert them into guitars and give them to high-profile musicians such as Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...

, Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...

, and Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, as well as political figures such as the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

. However, a member of the Dalai Lama's staff rejected López's offer, citing the inappropriateness of giving a weapon as a gift; López has said he will try to explain his purpose more clearly.
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