After a night of shooting foxes on his Junee property, a farmer accidentally left a shotgun in a cloth bag inside the cabin of his ute, along with an amount of ammunition.

The next morning, his son drove the ute into town and was pulled over by police for a routine traffic stop.

They saw the shotgun and the ammunition in plain view, in breach of the law.

Shortly after, the farmer turned up and explained what had happened.

“I was out shooting foxes last night and locked it (the shotgun) in the car overnight,” the man told police.

“I gave him (the son) the keys this morning. I forgot the gun was still there.

“It was safe as far as I’m concerned.

“It was locked in the car and when he’s got control of it, it is safe.

“It’s not like it’s in the hands of the ice dealers.”

Wagga magistrate Erin Kennedy had a different view, pointing out that crooks looked for opportunities to steal firearms to be used in violent crimes.

“I’m sure you are aware they are looking for these things,” Ms Kennedy told the man.

“It is a big responsibility to keep firearms safe, and you failed on this occasion.”

Ms Kennedy said a message of general deterrence had to be sent to licensed firearm owners.

“We are living in a society that is stamping down on gun control … if you fail to comply with regulations and rules the penalties are huge, and rightly so,” she said.

The man pleaded guilty to failing to keep a firearm safely and not having approved firearm storage in the ute.

The farmer’s solicitor, Erin Brown, said her client had made an honest, but not reasonable, mistake.

She asked that he be given a good behaviour bond with no conviction, but Ms Kennedy rejected the request, instead recording a conviction and fining the man a total of $1500.

“When you mess up with your firearms licence you don’t get let off,” Ms Kennedy said.

“There are consequences.”