John M. Snyder
John M. Snyder is a United States gun lobbyist who has been called "the dean of Washington gun lobbyists."[1][2]
Career
Snyder is a former seminarian with a degree in political science.[3] His career as a gun lobbyist began after eight years working for the National Rifle Association (NRA)[4] as editor of American Rifleman.[5] He claims that he registered as a gun lobbyist even before the NRA had its own people lobbying the Capitol.[3] In the early 1970s, he helped to found the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).[3][4]
Christmas cards
Since 1979, Snyder has sent annual, controversial Christmas cards to the President, Pope, members of Congress, and the media.[6][4][7]
Some of the Christmas card illustrations include:
- 1979 - Santa Claus holding a pistol and smiling in front of a fireplace.[6]
- 1987 - St. Gabriel Possenti shooting a lizard.[5]
- 1989 - Archangel Michael shooting drug dealers in an alley lighted by the Christmas Star.[7]
Saint Gabriel Possenti Society
In 1987, Snyder founded the Saint Gabriel Possenti Society to promote public recognition of Gabriel and to lobby for Gabriel's designation by the Vatican as the "patron saint of hand gunners".[5]
According to the society, Gabriel's marksmanship and proficiency with handguns allegedly saved the village of Isola del Gran Sasso from a band of 20 marauding bandits in 1860. This is in reference to a story mentioned in one biography of the saint,[8]: 93 though the author admitted that some of the accounts in his book were invented to "enliven" the story.[8]: 3 No account of the event is present in any other independently researched biographies, making it seem unlikely. Moreover, at the time of the alleged incident, 1860, Gabriel was in the later stages of tuberculosis, making such strenuous exercise impossible.[9]: 37
John McCaslin wrote that presidential candidate Pat Buchanan pledged to Snyder, "when I get to that White House, I'm gonna take that medallion you gave me - the patron saint of hand-gunners, Gabriel Possenti - and I'm gonna hang that in the Oval Office right along with Robert E. Lee's pistol!"[1]
See also
Gun politics in the United States
References
- ^ a b McCaslin, John (2004). Inside the Beltway. WND Books. ISBN 9781418551698. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ "On card, Santa's aim is true". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Editorial). December 20, 2014.
- ^ a b c Clines, Francis X. (April 7, 1996). "Capitol Sketchbook;Lobbyist Finds Saintly Cause in Gun Control Fight". New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
- ^ a b c King, Wayne (December 17, 1987). "Washington Talk: The Gun Lobby; Decking the Halls With Factional Fighting". New York Times.
- ^ a b c Murphy, Tim (February 27, 2013). "The Quest to Make This Lizard-Sniping Italian the Patron Saint of Handguns". Mother Jones. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
- ^ a b "Pistol-packin' Santa angers lawmaker". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. Associated Press. December 21, 1979. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
- ^ a b Religion editor (December 23, 1989). "Angels, Santas tote guns and greetings". Toledo Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ a b Poage, Godfrey (1977). Son of the Passion: The Story of Gabriel Francis Possenti, the New Patron of Catholic Youth for the Universal Church. St. Paul Editions. ISBN 9780819804587.
- ^ Jude Mead, John Carberry (1985). St. Gabriel Passionist: A Youthful Gospel Portrait. Editrice l'eco di S. Gabriele. OCLC 15505231.