If you should happen to own a Pietta Colt 1873 single action reproduction revolver, do not carry it, loaded, in your bunnyhug pouch, when you go drinking with your buddies and plan on shooting the cans. You might shoot yourself in the leg.
Indeed, that’s exactly what happened to Jason Johnson, 31, of Carievale, on April 12. The incident took place in the RM of Argyle, at the very southeast corner of Saskatchewan.
He ended up destroying the tibia bone in his leg, has been unable to work since then. He hobbled into court on crutches on Oct. 2. On that day he entered a guilty plea to the charge of handling a restricted firearm in a careless manner. A second charge of possessing a firearm in a place other than where entitled was stayed by the Crown as part of a joint submission between the Crown and defence.
In reading out the agreed statement of facts, Crown prosecutor Ali Sheh explained Johnson had been going out to shoot some cans and that he shot himself in the leg. “He was lucky,” Sheh said.
Legal aid attorney Joelle Graham, acting in Johnson’s defence, said he had worked in the oilpatch, but was unemployed due to the slowdown. He can’t return to work, and had spent one month in the hospital as a result of the shooting.
She noted, “It’s not actually that uncommon,” with reference to drinking beer and shooting at cans.
Graham added that the gun in question has to be cocked manually for the trigger to be able to fire, and that that was a form of safety. He was reaching for something in his bunnyhug when the gun went off. It had been safely stored before, she said.
A Google image search reveals the gun in question looks like the stereotypical revolver seen in old-style Western movies.
Judge Lane Wiegers said to Johnson, “I recognized you’ve suffered some very serious injury.
“It’s hard for me to understand you walking around with a loaded gun in your pocket. If this becomes commonplace in Estevan and area, people in my profession are going to have to start sending people to jail.”
Judge Wiegers warned the next person to do so likely would go to jail.
He agreed with the suggested sentence in the joint submission and gave Johnson a $1,000 fine plus a $300 victim surcharge. There is also a three year firearms prohibition and forfeiture of the gun in question.
Graham piped up that she wanted to be clear that people aren’t wandering around with loaded firearms.
Wiegers countered that you can’t transport firearms that are loaded, and, “I’m not punishing him for shooting himself.”
