HOUSTON – Three $30,000 pieces of art made of decommissioned assault rifles is stuck at Bush Airport Customs and the artist who created the pieces says there’s nothing he can do about it.
“ATF called Washington and they said ‘No, not a chance,’” London artist Bran Symondson said.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is involved because the artwork is made from real, decommissioned AK-47s.
“A lot of them have interesting stories,” he said. “The ones I was bringing out here were en route to Syria from Afghanistan and they got captured. They’ve all seen action.”
Symondson covers the weapons in butterflies, or dollar bills, he even created one to represent the Texas flag. He was inspired by his time in the British Army Special Forces unit. Symondson did two tours in Afghanistan and when he returned to London he started to express himself creatively.
“It’s the most iconic weapon in the world,” he said. “I wanted to turn it from something of fear to something of beauty and intrigue. The whole process would be to disarm the AK-47 and turn it into artwork.”
Symondson is in Houston for an art show at the La Colombe d’Or Gallery in Montrose where he was hoping to sell his art. His works are displayed at the Maddox Gallery on Mayfair in London and workers there spent a lot of time filling out the appropriate paperwork, and forms and getting things approved so they could transfer the pieces to the U.S.
They never anticipated a problem.
Symondson explains all of the guns have their working parts removed, so they thought they’d be allowed through Customs.
He said he even checked with the FBI.
‘You’re not allowed to own any automatic weapons in the U.K.,” said Symondson. “You couldn’t get them to work even if you tried. There’s a steal rod in the barrel and all the working parts are taken out.”
Now, Symondson has spent several hours in his hotel room trying to recreate one of the pieces so he can have something on display at the art show.
He needed a gun, and with a quick click of the mouse was able to order one online. That is what makes no sense to him.
“I could get a real AK-47 that kills people still but I couldn’t get one that’s just a piece of artwork into the country?”
In a statement, a U.S. Customs spokesperson said, “While U.S. Customs and Border Protection is unable to comment on specific shipments, all shipments to the U.S. are subject to CBP inspection. Some items require a license or permit from various government agencies in order to be imported. When CBP encounters such a shipment, it is detained while CBP coordinates with the appropriate agency who will determine the disposition of the shipment.”