Contact: John Snyder, 703-212-9863
ARLINGTON, Virginia, July 23 /Christian Newswire/ -- The St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc. on Friday presented Dean Daniel Polsby of the George Mason University School of Law with its Medallion of Honor, Society Chairman John Snyder announced here today.
"As a legal scholar for many years and more recently as a top law school administrator in Fairfax, Virginia," said Snyder, "Dan has demonstrated his commitment to principles upon which the Society is based. His dedication to legal support for the right of law-abiding citizens to obtain and use handguns and other firearms for defense of human life places him squarely in the forefront of individuals eligible for this distinction. We are delighted and indeed honored ourselves to present him with the Medallion.
"During his career as educator and lawyer, Dan has written significant articles and briefs in support of individuals' right to keep and bear arms. As Dean of George Mason Law School, he has maintained and developed on faculty the most distinguished and high-powered group of Second Amendment legal scholars in the country. Most recently, he joined with a number of other American legal scholars in a Brandeis Brief calling for the dismissal of a District of Columbia statute as a violation of the United States Constitution. In that case, Parker v. District of Columbia, an appellate court agreed that the D.C. law practically prohibiting handgun possession is unconstitutional. The District has indicated it will appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court."
St. Gabriel Possenti was a 19th Century Catholic seminarian who used a handgun to rescue villagers of Isola del Gran Sasso, Italy in 1860 from a gang of terrorizing renegade soldiers. He died in 1862. Pope Benedict XV canonized him in 1920.
The international, interdenominational Society promotes public recognition of Possenti and seeks his official designation as Patron of Handgunners. It emphasizes the historical, philosophical and theological bases for the doctrine of legitimate self-defense.
In the book, "Gun Saint," published by Telum Associates, LLC, Snyder details the Possenti story and recounts the history of the gun saint movement. (www.gunsaint.com)
(High res version of the photo of John Snyder and Dan Polsby available on request)
