Lewis Pasco Day is a holiday celebrated in the Nepleslian Empire once every year. The premise of the holiday is fairly simple; friends and family prepare, package and exchange firearms and other weapons. The name itself is derived from Lewis Pasco, a former soldier who served Nepleslia in his younger years. Also known as National Gun Day.

During YE24 a squad of Nepleslian soldiers, nicknamed The Grenadiers, were hopelessly pinned down and entrenched in enemy territory during an assault against a criminal compound. The Grenadiers spent roughly two months staking out in an abandoned building, awaiting any signs of another friendly group of soldiers so that they could meet up with them and hopefully escape to safety before their rations were exhausted or they were discovered.

Near the end of the second month, one soldier in the squad named Lewis Pasco informed the rest of his brothers-in-arms that that particular day was his date of birth. Lewis was a well-liked member of the Grenadiers, and his fellow soldiers felt that they needed to celebrate. However, the battlefield left little time or resources to give Lewis a proper assortment of gifts… thus, his fellow soldiers had to improvise.

In the battlefield, there are two things that are important to a soldier: his brothers, and his weapon. As a sort of joke, all of the soldiers in Pasco’s squad presented him with one of their firearms, which he accepted gratefully. Of course, when another assault squad was able to discover Pasco’s squad and attempt evacuation, Lewis returned the weapons back to their owners…it was the thought that counted, after all.

Each of the soldiers in the Grenadier squad was able to return back to Nepleslian soil, and each of the marines gave a report on the situation they endured. General Davis, upon reading these reports, was so touched with the act of camaraderie that he later declared the date of Lewis Pasco’s birth to be Lewis Pasco Day, a national holiday in which friends and family exchange gifts of firearms and other weapons. The Nepleslian society took the idea rather well.

On National Gun Day, it is customary for family and friends to exchange gifts of guns and other weapon-related items, usually wrapped and packaged. The gift can be given at any time during the day, although it is usually expected to receive it during late afternoon.

This holiday is practiced by all ages: a safety-concerned parent may give his or her child a squirt gun, a foam dart gun, or even perhaps a laser tag set, while older citizens are usually given antique weapons, or items of great sentimental value. The area in between children and the elderly accepts the widest array of items.

Lewis Pasco Day gifts are not strictly prohibited to firearms and gun-type weapons. Things like knives, ammunition, collector’s items and new parts for existing weapons are also widely accepted and widely common.