Shooting Illustrated Interviews: John Correia

What can we learned from someone who's watched over 40,000 real-world violent encounters?

by
posted on October 18, 2023

John Correia has guided Active Self Protection from being a small firearms training company to popular YouTube channel into a firearms education powerhouse. He began as an NRA trainer, and then started to integrate lessons learned from real-world lethal force encounters he would see on social media. This in turn led to his own channel, Active Self Protection, which blossomed into a new media powerhouse with over three million subscribers. Correia’s video lessons provide valuable insights for the firearms training community, because he takes the time to break down a dangerous encounter into easy to digest bits, giving us all a chance to learn from the successes and failures of people who have had to deal with the harsh reality of violence in America. 

In recent years, Correia has extended that knowledge-based approach to firearms training into a training program of his own, and now Active Self Protection has its own smartphone app, created to help bypass the social media censors who clutch their pearls at the thought of an armed and competent populace. 

We talk with him about how he keeps his content fresh and up to date, as well as his background as a trainer and what we can learn from his experience watching over 40,000 lethal force encounters.

Latest

Springfield Armory SA-35
Springfield Armory SA-35

First Look: New Colors Options For The Springfield Armory SA-35

Now available in Coyote Brown or Tactical Grey. 

First Look: XS Sights MOS Sight Bundles

Available for the RMR and Acro footprints.

FN Awarded Contract for M240 and M249 Machine Gun Barrels

Large amounts of rounds fired creates a need for new barrels.

Rifles: Pulling the Wool Over Our Eyes?

Time for moving on, and we’re not foolin’.

First Look: 22 ARC Options From Bear Creek Arsenal

New ways to extend the reach of your AR-15.

First Look: JK Armament 155 RPX Suppressor

Adaptable to a wide range of pistol and rifle calibers.

Interests



Get the best of Shooting Illustrated delivered to your inbox.