A shotgun said to be the subject of a family feud and not "out of place" on the American frontier was the target of a South Coast court on Monday, May 4.
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Selmar Adrian Nebelung, 45, of Clyde Ridge Road, Brooman, pleaded guilty to several weapons offences, including possessing on January 29, 2020, an unauthorised pistol, unregistered firearms and not keeping firearms safely.
He was also charged with one count of having goods suspected of being stolen.
Defence solicitor Geoff Knox told Batemans Bay Local Court a shotgun and rifle were legacies from his client's grandmother.
The shotgun had in the past been reported as missing. It was of significant age and had been the subject of a major family and legal dispute, but the accused insisted he had permission to take it.
Magistrate Doug Dick acknowledged the age and sentimental value of the weapon.
"It would not have looked out of place on Davy Crockett's shoulder, but it is still a weapon," he said.
The provenance of a self-loading pistol proved harder to establish.
Mr Knox said his client was in possession of the pistol only because an acquaintance had requested he "look after it".
"He did not know what to do with it, so he just stashed it," Mr Knox told the court.
Mr Knox said his client had made no attempt to conceal the weapons and police had found them during the bushfires.
"In the aftermath of the fires, there were a lot of hurried and rash decisions," he told the court.
"He was quite severely burned in protecting the property."
Nebelung appeared in court wearing full-sleeve burns bandaging.
Mr Knox acknowledged "these are serious matters" but requested his client be placed on a bond.
He told the court Nebelung's employer had been "fulsome in his praise".
Magistrate Dick accepted the accused's explanation about the shotgun being misplaced, however "my job is to send a clear message" of deterrence regarding unauthorised and unregistered weapons.
Mr Dick accepted there was nothing "sinister" in the case, but said statistics showed more than 30 per cent of missing firearms were never found.
That one of the weapons was semi-automatic (self-loading) was an "aggravating" factor.
He accepted Nebelung had no prior convictions, the weapons were not loaded and he did not possess them in a public place
Nebelung was fined $500 on each matter and a community corrections order was imposed for two years on each.
