Happy Birthday Andrew

And here is the chronicle of the saga of buying a birthday present....

I asked him last week what he wanted for his birthday and all I got was "a shotgun". I didn't plan on getting him a gun, I figured I could find something else that he's mentioned in the past. Then the next night I was at work and got a call from my neighbour that there was a fox chasing our chickens, her husband had taken a shot, but missed him. That night when I counted chickens we were missing SEVEN!!! The shotgun started looking like a really good idea.

I started doing research, asking all my co-workers that I knew hunted for some suggestions on guns, I talked to my neighbour, I even had someone volunteer to go shopping with me. I started out at Bass Pro, it was between two guns, the Mossberg 535 or the Remington 870. I liked the Remington a lot better, but not that much better in the price difference they were asking. I started the process of getting the Mossberg, then they wouldn't sell it to me because of my greencard and I didn't have 90 days worth of utility bills with me (I have since found out that they were reading the law wrong and it is only for non-immigrants, those that are here on visas, not permanent residents). Of course they didn't figure all this out until I had spent an hour there. I went back to work and complained to some people, who suggested a local gun shop (about 20 minutes away). I called them, the guy said he had both of the guns I was looking at, for significantly cheaper, and said they're open Friday 9-6. So Friday morning I head over there right for 9 o'clock, except the guy was wrong, they don't open until 10, and they don't have their hours posted, I just figured it out when no one had shown up by 9:15. I head in to work and figure I will have to go out there between lunch and a client. I get there that afternoon and they have the Mossberg 500 and the Remington 870, but not in the combination that I want. One has a bird barrel but no slug barrel, the other has a rifle bore instead of smooth, one has a slug and a scope but not with wood stocks, lets see, what other gun lingo can I throw around that I've learned in the past week...

I ended up giving up. I know who has what for how much, now he can decide what he wants. I know nothing about guns and didn't want to make the wrong decision on something that he'll have the rest of his life.



This afternoon I told him what I was getting him and the attempts I had made to get it. He's very excited about going shopping this week :)