Gabriel Possenti: the Actual Patron Saint of Handguns

You may have noted recently that in addition to their usual pants-wetting nonsense, that Leftists now hate (or are afraid of) the Catholic Rosary. It’s now “Right Wing Extremism” or some such twaddle. (Link goes to a related article so we don’t give those idiots at the Atlantic any clicks.)

Being personally a survivor of 12 years of Catholic education and now a somewhat lapsed practitioner (if not a downright agnostic at times), I should be the last person to be a Defender of the Faith. Nonetheless if it sticks in a finger in the eye of Anti-gun Lefties then I am all for any practice which does so. And if it advances one’s spiritual journey in the process then mores-the-better.

So it is in this spirit that I feel it necessary to provide today’s fun fact: 

There is a Patron Saint of Handguns. As per the article:

Saint Gabriel Possenti’s feast day is February 27. He is the (unofficial but proposed) patron of handguns because his marksmanship enabled him to rescue a woman about to be raped by a marauding gang of thugs at Isola del Gran Sasso, Italy in 1860.

After freeing a young woman from would-be rapists, St. Gabriel Possenti confronted the onrushing brigands waving revolvers. At that moment grabbing a revolver from one of the brigands, Possenti fired at a lizard that happened to be running across the road and dispatched it with one shot. Thus having demonstrated his excellent handgun marksmanship, he was able to take command of the situation and ran the now-frightened brigands out of town.

St. Gabriel Possenti performed this feat of courage without causing physical harm to a single human being.

If you are somehow put-off by a religious website as reference, here is the link to the Wikipedia entry.

This dead-eyed young man who defended the innocent with a handgun was canonized by the Church in 1920. That was over 100 years ago, lest some easily offended Lefty think this was some new act of nefariousness by feared religious extremists. 

Although St Gabriel’s designation as Patron of Marksmen and Handgunners is unofficial, there is a society which is campaigning for such official recognition. Frankly, if there is an official patron saint of Artillery (Saint Barbara), and Armorers/Gunsmiths (Saint Dunstan), and Hunters (Saint Hubert of Liege) then why not Handgunners too?

Side note: If you’ve never heard of Saint Hubert then you’ve never paid attention to the logo on a bottle of Jaegermeister.

The story of Saint Gabriel and the lizard is almost certainly apocryphal, but what saint’s story isn’t embellished and somewhat the product of faithful fervor? Does anybody actually believe that George Washington chopped down his father’s cherry tree?

Urban Legend or Article of Faith, it hardly matters to me. Saint Gabriel Possenti is now on my list of “friends in high places”.

Read the original article in its entirety at gatdaily.com.