Moon Kook-jin (born July 17, 1970), also known as Justin Moon, is a

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

religious leader, businessman, and gun manufacturer. He is the son of

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Moon Yong-myeong; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the ...

and

Hak Ja Han Hak Ja Han Moon (; born February 10, 1943 January 6, 1943, lunar calendar) is a Korean religious leader. Her late husband Sun Myung Moon was the founder of the Unification Church (UC). Han and Moon were married in April 1960 and have 10 living ...

. His father is the founder of the

Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...

and his mother is its present leader. Moon is the founder and owner of

Kahr Arms Kahr Arms is an American small arms, small firearms manufacturer focused on compact and mid-size semi-automatic pistols chambered for popular cartridges, including .380 ACP, 9mm Luger, .40 S&W and .45 ACP. Kahr pistols feature polymer or stainl ...

, an American

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

manufacturer, chair of the Sun Moon Education Foundation, and co-founder of

Rod of Iron Ministries Rod of Iron Ministries (or currently shortened as the Sanctuary Church; originally known as the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary Church) is a schismatic offshoot of the Unification Church established by Hyung Jin "Sean" Moon and Kook-jin "J ...

Early life

Moon is the fourth son of Unification Church leaders

and

. He was born in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and in 1973 moved to the United States, to

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, Unit ...

, with his family. He attended

Hackley School Hackley School is a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York, and is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1899 by a wealthy philanthropist, Frances Hackley, the school was intended to be a Unitar ...

, a small private school in Tarrytown. Moon, who later took the first name Justin, recounts his early interest in firearms:

My first experience shooting was with my older brother when I was 14. He also liked guns and took me shooting with friends and family. We would have a great time setting up and shooting targets with an assortment of firearms. Ever since that first shooting experience, I continued to pursue my interest in firearms.Massad Ayoob, "The Rise of the House of Kahr", ''American Handgunner'' (November/December 2001) pp. 58–67.

At age 18, Moon got a license to carry a handgun, co-signed by one of his older brothers, but he wasn't satisfied with the small caliber available in a compact handgun. "I had been licensed to carry in New York State since I was 18 and had looked for an ultra-compact 9 mm. pistol," Justin later told American Handgunner magazine. "To my chagrin, I could not find a pistol with the quality of construction and features in design which I felt were appropriate for a carry gun. Therefore, I decided to design an ultra-compact 9 mm. pistol that I could carry." By his junior year of college, he decided to design one himself. "I spent the summer and much of my senior year designing the mechanical layout of the pistol and prototyping various design concepts," he told Handgunner. Moon graduated magna cum laude from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

with an economics degree in 1992. In graduate school, at

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

, he obtained an MBA in 199

Kahr Arms

In 1993, Moon founded Kahr Arms, choosing the name to be suggestive of two of his affections: German engineering and fast cars. “I wanted to create the ultimate line of concealable pistols,” he said."Money, Guns, and God" by Christopher S. Stewart, ''Conde Nast Portfolio'', October 2007
/ref> Kahr Arms' headquarters is in

Greeley, Pennsylvania Greeley is a town in Pike County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately halfway between Milford, Pennsylvania, Milford and Hawley, Pennsylvania, Hawley. Its population is 1322. Lake Greeley Camp is named after this town, and is situated on L ...

, and it has a manufacturing facility in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

. It specializes in compact and mid-size

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

s chambered for popular cartridges, including .380 ACP,

9 mm Luger Parabellum 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

, .40 S&W and

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 11.43×23mm is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After su ...

. Kahr pistols feature polymer or stainless steel frames, single-stack

magazines A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

, and double-action striker firing actions. In 1994 the U.S. federal government banned manufacture and importation of pistol magazines with more than a 10-round capacity. These were the so-called "hi-capacity" magazines, which again became legal to manufacture and import in most states in September 2004, after the relevant federal law expired. This change in federal law rendered many staggered-magazine pistol models (commonly with magazine capacities of 15 or more rounds) less popular in the American market. They were now overly large in light of their newly mandated 10-shot limit. Combat Handguns magazine said that Kahr pistols are "made like a fine Swiss watch." They are used by some police officers as

backup weapon A sidearm is an individual-served weapon that is kept at one's side and can be rapidly accessed if needed. A sidearm may be carried alone or as an ancillary weapon to a more frequently-used primary weapon. The term historically referred to swor ...

Tongil Group

In 2005 Moon was appointed chairman of

Tongil Group Tongil Group () is a Korean business group (chaebol) associated with the Unification Church. (“Tongil” is Korean for “unification,” the name of the Unification Church in Korean is “Tongilgyo.”) It was founded in 1963 by Unification Ch ...

, a South Korean business group associated with the Unification Church. As of 2010 he is in the process of reforming its businesses by hiring new managers and by closing unprofitable operations. Among Tongil Group's chief holdings are The Ilwha Company, which produces

ginseng Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus ''Panax'', such as South China ginseng (''Panax notoginseng, P. notoginseng''), Korean ginseng (''Panax ginseng, P. ginseng''), and American ginseng (''American ginseng, P. quinquefol ...

and related products; Ilshin Stone, building materials; Tongil Heavy Industries, machine parts including hardware for the South Korean military; and Segye Ilbo, newspaper. It funds the Tongil Foundation, which supports Unification Church projects, including schools and the

Little Angels Children's Folk Ballet of Korea Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

Other activities

In 2012 Moon spoke at a conference advocating closer relations between the United States, South Korea, Japan, and other nations in curbing the growing military power of China. In December 2012 he was appointed Chairman of the Sun Moon Education Foundation, which runs eight schools in South Korea, including the Sun Hwa Kindergarten, Kyungbok Elementary School, Sun Hwa Arts School, Sun Hwa High School for Art, Sun Jeong Middle School, Sun Jeong Tourism High School and Sun Jeong High School.Chairman of Tongil Group, Kook Jin Moon, Inaugurated as the 8th Chairman of Sun Moon Education Foundation
Asia Pacific Business Technology Report, December 17, 2012

References

External links

Interview
in the ''

JoongAng Daily ''Korea JoongAng Daily'' () is the English edition of the South Korean national daily newspaper ''JoongAng Ilbo''. The newspaper was first published on October 17, 2000, as ''JoongAng Ilbo English Edition''. It mainly carries news and feature s ...

''
Interview
in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...