I’ve made mention to this before. But I’ve had issues with the law in the past. I was arrested for a violent crime I simply didn’t commit. The one and only thing I was guilty of that night eluded the cops. Drinking and driving. I was in my early twenties. Drank my [BLEEP] off from about 9am to 9pm while fishing with friends and just being idiots on wide open and vast pieces of property. I wrecked my truck on the way home. A wreck that if you saw the pics you’d wonder how I survived. A wreck, in which as it happened, I let go the wheel and took my foot off the pedals and asked to be taken quickly. As luck would have it, I didn’t die. But found myself facing upwards to 20 years in prison. I was out a week later after a dismissal. Thank god! As it turned out, it cost me a good job I had 5 years with yet turned out to be the best thing that happened in my life. Considering the offense involved a firearm, I sold pretty much all the firearms I had since I needed money. Between guilt, hatred towards myself, embarrassment, and a loss of of all my friends(I broke all the bridges from that time period) and a big thank you for a second chance, I learned a lot. I lived in Nassau county at the time and they took the firearm in question. Shortly after I started a business since I don’t have a job. Didn’t know the first thing about mowing lawns. 16 years later, I’ve created a business and took that as a learning opportunity and grew up. That business turned out to be successful. I recently received my ccw in the mail. Something I always wanted yet ashamed to achieve. Not even a week later I get a certified letter in the mail. It’s from Nassau county sheriffs department. Sure, they’re cops, but I don’t know how they got my address in ST johns. Heart drops. As it turns out, it’s a letter asking me to come in and claim the firearm that has caused me so much embarrassment, and self ridicule over the last decade and a half. I want no part of that life I lived them. But after talking to my dad (33+ years in law enforcement and the military background). He suggested to claim it. This is the abridged version, but hopefully it helps someone. I don’t tell anyone my story. I’m ashamed of it. After passing the background (surprise, I’ve got my ccw) this is not an item I want in my possession. I want no part of those days. Still trying to figure it out considering the timing. I suppose it’s come full circle. And I should let go. Maybe I’m being told something. Thanks for listening. I just had to get it off my chest. Better to say it behind the internet than in person. And for some reason I’ve got watery eyes typing it. But it feels good to let it out.

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