In pictures: US gun-blessing ceremony

A woman holds an AR-15 rifle during a ceremony at the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary on February 28Getty Images

Hundreds of couples packed a World Peace and Unification Sanctuary church in Pennsylvania to bless their weapons on Wednesday

Church officials hold their AR-15-style riflesReuters

The church believes the gun is the "rod of iron" cited in the Book of Revelation

A parishioner with the Sanctuary Church wears a crown of bulletsEPA

A woman wears a crown of bullets in the ceremony in the rural Pocono Mountains

A parishioner with the Sanctuary Church holds onto his AR-15EPA

Guns were blessed with holy water during the event, scheduled before 17 people were shot dead in a Florida school

A man holds a pistol during a ceremony at the World Peace and Unification SanctuaryGetty Images

The church believes the Florida shooting could have been avoided had teachers been armed

Parishioners with the Sanctuary Church inspect an AR-15EPA

Guns were inspected to make sure they didn't hold bullets, with zip ties added to stop them firing

A parishioner with the Sanctuary Church holds onto his AR-15EPA

Students from a school near the church were moved for the day while the event took place, and protests were held outside

Rev Yeon Ah Lee Moon of the Sanctuary Church holds a gold AR-15EPA

The Rev Yeon Ah Lee-moon with her golden gun - the church is a small group that splintered away from the Unification Church founded by her father-in-law, the late self-proclaimed messiah Rev Sun Myung-moon

Pictures of guns line a wall during a ceremony at the World Peace and Unification SanctuaryGetty Images

The church, whose members are derisively called Moonies, has been accused of brainwashing its followers, a claim it denies