John M. “Magnum” Snyder, long known as a champion of the Second Amendment, passed away Oct. 22. He was 79.
A veteran of the gun rights battle, Snyder had been a long time lobbyist and also worked with and helped found the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA). He also worked with its sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation. He was an author and had served as editor of CCRKBA’s monthly publication, Point Blank.
During his long career, Snyder worked as an editor for the National Rifle Association’s monthly magazine American Rifleman, and was once called “the dean of Washington gun lobbyists.” He was the founder/director of GunRightsPolicies.org, and also was well known as the founder and chairman of the St. Gabriel Possenti Society, Inc., which considers Possenti the “Patron Saint of Handgunners.” Snyder authored a book about Possenti titled Gun Saint. Snyder founded the group in 1987.
While he worked at the NRA, he also wrote under the pseudonym “J. Nicholas Cannon” for Point Blank, a monthly publication owned by the CCRKBA.
Snyder was also founder and manager of Telum Associates, LLC
He served on the boards of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and the American Federation of Police.
A devout Catholic, Snyder was once a seminarian and held a degree in political science, according to biographical information.
He is survived by his wife, Ling.
Funeral arrangements were through Joseph Gawler’s Funeral Home in Washington, DC. A Mass of Christian Burial was held Oct. 30 at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Potomac, MD, with interment at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in nearby Silver Springs.
