We’ve all had days when things just don’t go our way. I get that. But a heated petty domestic dispute between a man, his wife, and their shared romantic partner doesn’t excuse violating basic firearms safety rules. Firefighter Christian Ball, from Manchester, Tennessee, unfortunately found himself in that very situation. The Times Free Press reports that Ball was suspended without pay after “allegedly dry-[firing] a pistol at his and his wife’s girlfriend during an argument between the three.” . . .
The suspended firefighter…was charged Jan. 25 with aggravated assault in the incident on Old Manchester Highway when he reportedly got mad at both 22-year-old women and then dry-fired a .40-caliber Glock pistol at the car belonging to the couple’s girlfriend after spitting in her face and threatening her, according to Coffee County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jason Dendy.
Authorities did not release the women’s names.
Dendy said the three were romantically involved.
According to Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman, no decision has been made yet on Ball’s future with the department, in a follow-up article.
“As far as I know, he was a good fireman,” Norman said. “But you’ve got to be careful. You can’t make mistakes, it’ll haunt you.”
Gee, ya think?
There are so many lessons to be learned here, but let’s confine ourselves to the firearms-related one. If the facts in the Times Free Press article are correct, and Ball was dry-firing to show how tough or angry he was at his wife and their mutual girlfriend, he’s lucky a phantom round didn’t magically appear in the chamber of his GLOCK, as they’ve been known to do when rule one (never mind two and three) is so brazenly violated.
He’s also equally fortunate one of the ladies wasn’t packing heat, too, and returned fire with live ammo. So we’ll be sending Mr. Ball some hardware to commemorate his lapse in judgement. The question is, will he share this with his female friends, too?