Nothing says love like a gun or three.

At least that’s what Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) thought during the early years of marriage to his wife Debbie. He bought her three guns for various holiday gifts.

“After the third gun, I told him, ‘I’ll take jewelry,’ ” Debbie said, reminiscing about their 28-year marriage during a recent phone interview from Detroit.

The congressman thought he had found the perfect present.

“Deborah told me she was an outdoor girl,” Dingell said in a phone interview from his Hill office. “It turned out her idea of the outdoors and mine were different.”

He sold the guns for a profit, and it now looks like that was one of their few marital miscommunications.

“I am grateful for every day and every minute I am married to Deborah,” he said.

“Our marriage is just something that was meant to be,” she said.

Those of you whose stomachs churn upon hearing of inspirational love need not read on. This story is one about Congress members who have experienced love in a way that could encourage even the fiercest haters of Valentine’s Day.

Who can justify a grumpy attitude this time of year, when Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) conducts congressional business wearing a navy blue tie flecked with red hearts?

“I wear this tie to remind the men around here that Valentine’s Day is coming up,” he said during a vote last week.

Regula holds the No. 2 position in marriage longevity among current House members. He has been married to his college sweetheart, Mary, for 58 years.