Man who shot himself with palm pistol loses appeal of conviction

A Chilliwack man who accidentally shot himself with a French palm pistol known as a “Velo Dog” because of its use by cyclists to fend off attacks from animals has lost his appeal of a conviction for careless use of a firearm.

On Jan. 21, 2017, Jason John Kulcsar, 30, was taking his 60-pound terrier for a walk when he found a small metal object in a pullout beside the road that he believed might be a cap gun.

He testified that he picked up what was in fact a small pistol in his hand but when his dog tugged hard on her leash, the gun slipped in his hand. As he caught at it to prevent it from falling, the pistol fired in his palm.

The bullet hit two bones and exited and at first Kulcsar didn’t feel any pain. But after he picked up the gun again and headed toward his nearby tattoo studio he began to feel a lot of pain, he told a judge.

After arriving at the studio, he told his friend, Devan Bertrand, that he’d shot himself and needed to get to the hospital.

Kulcsar said he didn’t want to leave the gun at his studio because the police would arrive and conduct a search and decided to take the weapon to the hospital where he would turn it over to the authorities.

Bertrand, who testified he didn’t know Kulcsar was carrying the weapon in his hoodie pocket, drove his friend to the Chilliwack hospital where Kulcsar turned the weapon over to police and received medical treatment. Police discovered the weapon had three live rounds in it.

Kulcsar was charged with five criminal counts but was only convicted of careless use, handling and transport of a prohibited weapon.

Provincial court Judge Wendy Young found that his possession of the gun was innocent but his behaviour in returning to the studio with the firearm, arranging for his friend to transport him to the hospital and entering the hospital with the firearm in his hoodie was careless.

Kulcsar, who was under a weapons prohibition at the time following a conviction for uttering threats, received a suspended sentence and 12 months probation.

On appeal, he argued that the judge made several errors in her analysis of the law including failing to consider that at the time of the offence he had a gunshot wound and was in a lot of pain. But in her ruling, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheila Tucker concluded the lower court judge made no such errors and dismissed the appeal.