B.C. man 'trying to appear cool' with loaded handgun at nightclub sentenced

A man holds a Glock 17 pistol at a shooting range. (Shutterstock)

A 23-year-old British Columbia man who pleaded guilty to carrying a loaded handgun inside a crowded nightclub has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

Provincial court Judge David Patterson, in his written sentencing decision released Thursday, said Jesse James Monteith admitted he was just "trying to appear cool and tough" when he brought the Glock 17 pistol into Status Nightclub in Vernon on April 9, 2023.

The 9-mm handgun was fitted with a prohibited overcapacity magazine that could carry up to 27 rounds, though it only held 17 bullets when it was seized by police. Another bullet was found inside the gun's chamber, ready to fire without any active safety mechanism to prevent a misfire if pressure was applied to the trigger, according to the court.

A fellow nightclub attendee called the Vernon RCMP to report Monteith was in the club's outdoor smoking area when he showed someone the gun inside his Louis Vuitton satchel, which the judge referred to as a "murse," or man's purse.

"The complainant also stated that the man with the murse had claimed that the handgun was real," Patterson wrote.

Several police officers descended on the busy downtown nightclub where people several people were still lined up to get inside, the judge wrote.

"Police officers approached and spoke to the doorman and, subsequently, the manager," Patterson wrote.

"The police officers gave the manager the description of the man with the murse. The manager checked the designated smoking area and observed that a man matching the police description was still in the designated smoking area."

Suspect tried to flee

Two officers approached Monteith and told him he was under arrest as one officer took out his handcuffs. Monteith initially put his hands behind his back to comply with the arrest but then "he bolted towards the exterior exit to the designated smoking area," according to the decision.

One of the Mounties caught Monteith and wrestled him to the ground while the other handcuffed him.

"Fearing that Mr. Monteith may try to escape if they uncuffed him, one of the police officers cut the strap of the murse and removed it from Mr. Monteith’s person," Patterson summarized.

Inside the murse was the loaded pistol, along with $2,055 in cash and a Canadian passport in Monteith's name, the judge said.

Monteith was taken to police cells and released from custody later that night.

Police interviewed three clubgoers who said they had seen the pistol at the nightclub, according to the court.

Gun traced to Kelowna

Subsequent investigation confirmed Monteith was not the lawful owner of the gun and was not licensed to possess such a weapon.

The Glock was traced back to a so-called "straw purchaser" in Kelowna, who lawfully bought the gun before illegally passing it on to someone else without reporting the transaction to authorities, as required.

"Straw purchasers may not be involved in other crimes themselves, but the guns they give away or sell are used in all types of crime, including shootings, robberies, home invasions and murders," the judge wrote.

Monteith did not reveal to the police or the court how he acquired the gun and the prohibited magazine, nor did he say why he had a cartridge in the chamber that night, according to the decision.

"To state the obvious, if the reason Mr. Monteith had the pistol with him at the nightclub was to appear cool and tough, there was no need for a cartridge in the chamber, ready to be fired, and never mind having ammunition in the pistol at all," Patterson wrote.

"The unlawful presence of the Glock 17 in a public place, improperly stored, was undoubtedly dangerous to persons in the nightclub. It was at risk of going astray. It posed a material risk to the public."

Monteith, who was born in Vernon, was 22 years old at the time of the offence and had no prior criminal history, according to the court.

'Significant' imprisonment

The judge considered multiple mitigating factors in the case, including Monteith's guilty plea, his apparent remorse for the crime, his prior struggles with substance abuse and the claim that "a period of imprisonment would negatively impact the physically small and youthful Mr. Monteith, and do more harm than good."

However, Patterson found Monteith's "moral blameworthiness is at the high end of the scale" due to the dangerous nature of the crime.

"He brought a loaded semi-automatic pistol to a busy nightclub, showed it to multiple people, and did so for the stated purpose of trying to appear cool and tough," the judge reiterated.

Monteith's defence lawyer urged the court to forego jail time in favour of a conditional sentence to be served in the community for two years less a day.

The provincial prosecution sought 30 months in prison, which the judge granted.

"In my view, the justice system's reputation requires a significant period of imprisonment for Mr. Monteith," Patterson wrote.

"One cannot overstate the threat to the public posed by loaded firearms unlawfully possessed in public by individuals without firearm training, not to mention the stupidity and lack of common sense possessed by a person who brings a loaded handgun into a busy nightclub."

In addition to the 30-month sentence, the judge imposed a 10-year weapons ban and ordered Monteith to provide DNA samples to the federal criminal databank.