news, latest-news,

An Illawarra man who shot an air rifle in his suburban backyard – then allowed his two young sons to have a go – has told a court he had no idea such a weapon could get him in so much trouble. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was fined $5,000 and placed on a two year good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to a raft of firearm charges stemming from the March 29 incident. “It was a silly thing to do, I didn’t realise the ramifications,” he said in court on Tuesday, admitting he had no idea air rifles were considered an illegal weapon without a permit. The court heard the man had acquired the rifle the day before the incident following the death of a friend and had planned on taking it to a relative’s property in a few weeks, however had decided to test the weapon out to see if it still worked. He set up a plastic target in the back corner of his property, which has neighbours on three sides. He fired a shot at the target, using small pellet-style ammunition, before allowing his two sons, both aged under 10, to have a go firing the weapon. Both shots fired by the children missed the target and hit the man’s colourbond fence, causing loud bangs. The sound alerted neighbours, who looked over the fence and noticed the man holding the air rifle. The neighbours contacted police, who caught up with the man at a nearby restaurant a short time later. He accompanied officers back to the property where he retrieved the gun from behind a cabinet inside the garage, telling police he’d planned on applying for a firearms licence but hadn’t done so yet. In court on Tuesday, the man said he’d “grown up in the bush” and spent his childhood shooting on his grandfather’s property. Magistrate Michael Stoddart quickly reminded him ‘the bush’ was far from suburban Wollongong. “You’re in suburbia, not on the farm,” he said. “One would think an intelligent man like yourself would realise the danger of what you did. “An air rifle can still do an awful lot of damage. “What would’ve happened if it [the pellet] hit you in the head? What would’ve happen if it bounced off something and hit one of your kids in the head? “It was totally irresponsible as a parent and a member of the community.” The gun has been seized.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/rdPnbxNSt95RbDXSGgzrdz/10b67c44-b520-4a69-ac96-6162e612cfa6.jpg/r6_138_2714_1668_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg