They say you never forget your first time.

I sure didn’t.

It happened to me when I was 19.  It was a Saturday in Indianapolis.  It was love at first sight.  As soon as I held her in my arms, I knew I was going to seal the deal.

Only cost me $300.

Mossie

She’s a Mossberg 590DA1.  The DA is for Double Action.  It’s not a true double action, the slide sill has to be cycled to reset the hammer, but it does partially cock the hammer so it is a longer and heavier trigger pull than a standard 590A1.  Fully equipped with ghost ring sights, side saddle shell holder, and buttstock shell holder, a 20 inch barrel and full length mag tube.  She holds 9 rounds of 2 3/4″ shells and functions flawlessly.  I can consistently put 1 oz Winchester Super X slugs through her into the center of mass of a B-34 target at 100 yards.

I got her at the Indy 1500 gun show.

I was spending a lot of time hanging out with some buddies in a very shitty house in a very shitty neighborhood a little north west of 25th and Wabash in Terre Haute, Indiana.  It was a neighborhood where you didn’t want to park a nice looking car overnight or it was guaranteed to be broken into.  Anything left outside overnight disappeared.  The trouble was finding people who would be willing to rent all but the crappiest houses at affordable prices to college kids was difficult.

So I decided I was going to get a home defense gun.  The local gun store was called Poff’s Sporting Goods and by god they sucked.  They were the only gun store in town, other than the Walmart, so everything was way overpriced.  You could buy cheaper elsewhere but then you had to drive at least 45 minutes towards Indy.

I went to the Indy 1500 gun show, looking for a tactical shotgun, and got the Mossberg.  The guy sold it cheap because of the double action trigger (not a popular feature).  Three Franklins down and I took her home and have been dragging her around the country for 16 years.

Funny thing is, I’ve never killed anybody with that gun.  Never shot up a school.  Mowed down innocent children.  I got it to protect my frat brothers and I in this terribly shitty house, in a disaster of a neighborhood.

Now the Democrats, media, and even Trump want to make what I did 16 years ago illegal.  They want to make the age to buy a shotgun 21.

All because is 19.  Fuck that.  I was the same age that he was when I bought my first shotgun.  What I did wasn’t wrong then and I shouldn’t be wrong in the future.

I want one of these Parkland bullies to explain to my face why 19 year old me should have been prohibited from doing what I did, because for the last 16 years, I’ve been a law abiding citizen with that gun.