A Tasmanian man who hid a rifle, a shortened shotgun and three pistols in a storage unit while moving out of the family home has been released after serving 31 days in custody.
Steve Alexander Freeman pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful trafficking in firearms. He was sentenced in the Supreme Court last week.
The court heard the 53-year-old moved the firearms from his home to a storage unit 2.7 kilometres away on July 29, 2024, as his marriage broke down.
He concealed the guns inside a PVC pipe and a small box.
They included an imitation pistol, two air pistols, a rifle and a shortened shotgun.
Justice Michael Brett said Freeman did not hold a firearms licence and was not the registered owner of any of the weapons.
He was also prohibited from possessing firearms under a family violence order.
Justice Brett said Freeman had not explained how he came to have the guns or what he intended to do with them.
“While there is a level of objective seriousness inherent in any example of this crime, this case is a long way from the type of concerning and serious criminal activity which often constitutes trafficking in firearms and which undoubtedly is the conduct with which this crime is primarily concerned,” he said.
The judge said there was no commercial element and no suggestion Freeman intended to pass the weapons on to anyone else.
Justice Brett found the offending was “at the lower end of the scale of seriousness for this crime”.
Freeman had already spent 31 days in custody on remand, which the judge said was “adequate punishment”.
He was convicted and sentenced to 31 days imprisonment, backdated to August 5, 2024.
