garvin: pati's son, robby poblete, was shot and killed in vallejo, four years ago. pati says like any parent facing such a traumatic loss, there were two ways she could go. pati: and i wouldn't blame anyone, choosing either way. you know, the first one is you're angry. you want revenge. you're depressed. it's very difficult to get out of bed, you know, because you know your child is never coming back, and so you can really fall into a dark place. the other way is i'm going to transform this. i'm going to transform this so that they didn't die in vain. garvin: pati chose the second path, writing a book about her experience, starting a foundation in her son's name, and knowing it was a stolen gun that ended his life-- male: these guys are gonna give you a receipt. garvin: sponsoring the first of which she hopes are many gun buybacks--the weapons collected, not just taken out of circulation, but made available to artists. pati: what ended up happening is we got submissions from around the world. i don't even know how they found out about it. kaytea petro: these parts a

i wanna secure your mind. announcer: but first-- pati poblete: i wish none of it had to happen. announcer: a north bay mother turns grief into action and puts it on display for all to see. pati: i'm gonna transform this so't d in va. announcer: here's nbc bay area's garvin thomas. garvin thomas: thank you so much for joining us. among the most difficult and controversial issues facing our communities these days is gun violence. there is no denying though, too many lives are lost to it,