STATE OF TASMANIA v RONALD LESLY NORRIS 22 November 2024
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE MARSHALL AJ
Mr Norris has pleaded guilty to one count of possessing a prohibited firearm without a firearms licence contrary to s 9(1A)(b) of the Firearms Act 1996. The particulars of the offending are that on 16 June 2024 police found a .22 long rifle fitted with a silencer at Mr Norris premises. Mr Norris has also pleaded guilty to summary charges relevant to the first charge which are before the Court under s 385A of the Criminal Code. The first of the summary charges is one under s 105(3)(a) of the Firearms Act. That provision concerns the possession of ammunition without having a licence to do so. The second summary charge is a charge under s 35(1) of the Family Violence Act for breach of a provision of the family violence order with regard to the possession of firearms and ammunition.
On 16 June 2024 members of Tasmania Police attended Mr Norris’s residence after receiving information that a firearm was kept on the premises. Police found a .22 rifle with a silencer under the bed of one of Mr Norris’s children. It was not loaded but ammunition was in the sleeve on the stock of the gun. Mr Norris admitted that the gun was his and that he did not have a firearms licence.
The background to the offending is that the firearm in question had been in Mr Norris’s family since he was a child. He only occasionally used it to put down sick animals. The silencer was attached so as not to startle other animals and to not draw attention to what he was doing or raise alarm amongst neighbours. The firearm had been recently used by Mr Norris and his son in putting down an animal on a neighbouring property. Mr Norris concedes that it was careless of him not to store the gun safely and it was also especially careless to leave it under his son’s bed.
Offences involving firearms are extremely serious. Living in Tasmania with the constant memory of what occurred at Port Arthur should sound alarm bells among Tasmanian residents about the illegal use of firearms. Mr Norris knew that it was a contravention of the family violence order made against him to possess a firearm, however he wrongly assumed that he could not surrender it without an adverse consequence.
Mr Norris is 42 years old; he has no relevant prior convictions has an excellent industrial record. There is little prospect that he would re-offend in the way he has in these matters. However, general deterrence and the public interest in keeping the community safe from firearms and, as our former Prime Minister John Howard said, ” not going down the American route on guns”, dictates the significant penalty must be imposed.
In all the circumstances, I consider that the appropriate penalty is to record conviction on all three offences and globally sentence you to a fine of $5,000 to be paid within 28 days of today’s date. I note that at the commencement of the plea the Court ordered, on the application of Mr Norris under s 10(6)(a) of the Family Violence Act, that the firearm in question including the silencer and ammunition be forfeited to the State.