The accused pleaded guilty to three firearms offences: possession of restricted firearms (contrary to s. 95), careless storage of a firearm (contrary to s. 86), and occupant of a motor vehicle with knowledge of a firearm (contrary to s. 94).
The accused inherited his father's firearms collection following his parents' deaths and unlawfully possessed handguns for approximately eight months.
The accused accidentally shot himself with one of the handguns, leading to police discovery of the weapons.
The court imposed a 12-month conditional sentence with electronic monitoring and home confinement for the first six months, finding that while firearms offences are serious, the accused's lack of criminal record, remorse, prosocial character, and the context of his parents' recent deaths warranted a conditional sentence rather than incarceration.
