WAGGA DISTRICT COURT
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A JUDGE has remarked on the prevalence of illegal firearms in the community and the danger they pose to police and the public while sentencing a man seen running along Wagga's Tarcutta Street with a pistol.
"Not a day goes by where there is not a drive-by shooting in Sydney," Judge Jennifer English said in Wagga District Court.
She said general and specific deterrence loomed large in the sentencing of 31-year-old Adam Samuel Jones.
Jones was one of three Sydney men seen running away from another group of three males on Small and Tarcutta streets on January 9.
Jones, who was on parole for manslaughter at the time, was seen by witnesses racking a .22 Ruger pistol as he ran along Tarcutta Street.
Judge English described racking as "the first step in readiness to fire" a pistol.
Jones's solicitor, David Barron, told the court his client explained to him he had taken the pistol from another person and was only checking to see if there was a round in the chamber as he ran along the street.
Judge English, however, did not accept that explanation.
She also was not impressed with reasons given by Jones for being in Wagga - having a look at the town - and his explanation for his involvement in the incident - being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"The offender denies any premeditation for these offences. I find all that rather unsatisfactory," Judge English said.
Jones, whose parole for manslaughter expired today, was jailed for four years and six months from April 9 for the offence of possessing an unauthorised pistol.
Judge English imposed a two-year non-parole period, meaning Jones's earliest date for release is April 8, 2016.
Jones was given concurrent two-year fixed terms starting from April 9 this year for possessing a loaded firearm in a public place and possessing an unauthorised firearm.