Worshippers hold weapons – including AR-15 assault rifles – at the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary in Newfoundland, Pa., Wednesday (AP)

Gun fans forced an elementary school to close as they renewed their wedding vows bearing AR-15 assault rifles while wearing crowns made out of bullets.

Wallenpaupack Elementary School bussed students to other locations as the bizarre ceremony unfolded at the nearby World Peace and Unification Sancturary Church in Newfoundland, Pa.

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They cancelled classes because of the ‘nature of the event’ – coming exactly two weeks after an AR-15 was used to kill 17 at a school in Florida.

Pro-Second Amendment churchgoers prayed while holding AR-15s or other weapons, accessorized with golden headpieces made out of bullets glued together.


Many used the ceremony as an opportunity to renew their wedding vows.



And even the priests got in on the action, solemnly bearing assault rifles while dressed in pink and white silk robes topped off with jeweled crowns.

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Worshippers at the church see the AR-15 as a biblical symbol (Getty)

Members of the splinter sect are staunchly pro-Second Amendment (Getty)

Many couples who attended the bizarre event used it as an excuse to renew their wedding vows (Getty)

A woman appeared emotional as she held an AR-15 during the ceremony (Getty)

The strange ceremony – planned before the Valentine’s Day massacre in Parkland, Florida, forced a nearby school to shutter up and bus pupils to other nearby educational establishments (Google Maps)

Worshippers at the church think the AR-15 – which could soon be banned from sale – represents the ‘rod of iron’ mentioned in the book of Revelation.

The Reverend Sean Moon, who leads the church prayed for ‘a kingdom of peace police and peace militia where the citizens, through the right given to them by almighty God to keep and bear arms, will be able to protect one another and protect human flourishing.’

His sect split from the Unification Church, said it was ‘saddened’ by Rev. Moon’s splinter group, and insisted weapons did not form a part of its ceremonies.

Rev. Moon insisted the gathering had been planned well before the latest massacre, which saw Nikolas Cruz gun down 14 students and three school workers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fl.

AR-15s were also used in other notorious massacres including the Sandy Hook Elementary School and Las Vegas shootings.

Revulsion at the latest killing spree has led to calls for assault rifles like the AR-15 to be banned, with President Trump apparently keen to do so himself.