A man charged with unlawful possession of a firearm said he found the sawn-off shotgun while burying his dog in the back yard.
Steven Manu Hiroa was on a community-detention sentence for excess breath alcohol when a house search revealed the shotgun, which his lawyer Stephen Ross said Hiroa found wrapped in material.
"It doesn't work," said Mr Ross in the Whanganui District Court on Tuesday. "It can't be broken to put the shells in."
Hiroa wanted to keep it as an ornament. He also faced a male assaults female charge and a charge of failing to appear in court.
Mr Ross said his client had a previous possession of an offensive weapon conviction but it was not a firearm.