Real-life Machine Gun Preacher gives daughter, 8, pink gun for birthday
A REAL-LIFE Machine Gun Preacher has said he has no problem with arming his young children, and has even given his eight year-old daughter a firearm for her birthday.
Gun of a Preacher man
Speaking after a nine-year-old girl accidentally shot her instructor with a submachine gun at a shooting range near Las Vegas, John Correia, 38, said he believed that women in particular should learn how to defend themselves with weapons.
Mr Correia, who is a pastor in Arizona and a qualified NRA firearms instructor, has armed his 15 year-old son James and his 12 year-old daughter Sarah.
And he even bought his eight-year-old daughter Abby a pink rifle as a birthday treat.
However, he said his older daughter Phoenix, 17, does not like firearms.
Mr Correira owns more than 20 different weapons, including shotguns, handguns and an AR-15 rifle - the type of weapon used in both the Sandy Hook and Colorado theatre massacres.
He said: "What fuels my passion for guns and self defence? First and foremost my Christian faith.
"I wish everyone got along, I wish that everybody was nice, but they're not."
I wish everyone got along, I wish that everybody was nice, but they're not
Alongside his Active Self Protection website, John runs a Females With Firearms Facebook page and is a firm advocate of women learning how to shoot.
He claimed that guns were the only reliable form of defence against attackers, saying: "I can get through your martial arts, pin you to the ground and beat you to death.
"I know I can, but you know what I can't do? If you've got a firearm, I can't get past that. That's a force multiplying tool, especially if we have distance, so I think that's why females especially should be taught self-defence, especially with the use of firearms, because they're effective."
His youngest daughter Abby said: "I like shooting guns because it's fun.
"My friends at school think guns are really dangerous and you should never own a gun.
"I think that it's okay to own a gun as long as you know how to use it and when it's okay to use it and where it's okay to use it."