A North Batemans Bay man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to five charges relating to possessing prohibited firearms.
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Brendan Raymond Smith, 45, pleaded guilty in Batemans Bay Local Court on November 14 to possessing an unauthorised prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition for a firearm without holding a permit for the firearm, possessing a prohibited weapon without being authorised to do so by a permit, possessing a prohibited weapon without a permit and possessing a gaming machine that is not approved.
Smith's lawyer Mr Fleming told the court the seriousness of the charges was not lost on Smith.
"While on the face of it the charges look serious, each of them are discreet," Mr Fleming said.
According to documents tendered to the court, police executed a search warrant on Smith's residence on September 28.
They found a gel blaster on top of a kitchen cupboard, two loose 308 calibre rounds of ammunition, loose rounds of .22 ammunition, a high-powered laser pointer, an old firearms magazine and an old, broken coin-operated card machine.
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Mr Fleming told the court the gel blaster was "a child's toy that can be purchased online," and that Smith wasn't aware it was illegal. It was kept above a kitchen cupboard so it was out of reach of children.
He said the ammunition were left over remnants from when Smith had a firearms licence in 2013 and the magazine had been found in the bush.
He said Smith didn't know the rating on the laser pointer and didn't appreciate the weapon was outlawed.
Magistrate Doug Dick convicted Smith and fined him a total of $5000 - $1000 for each charge.
All the weapons and ammunition were forfeited and destroyed.
