A Royal Navy officer who admitted to Police he fired an air pistol while staying at the Wyndham Bermuda Resort over the weekend was given an absolute discharge by a Magistrate.

But Benjamin Thomas Gibson, 20, now faces military discipline ? which could include a imprisonment and discharge from the Navy ? for being found with a Crossman 1008 air pistol and copperhead pellets in his room at the former Sonesta Beach on July 25.

Mr. King did not convict Gibson for the offence and explained that he was being lenient because Gibson did not intend to break any laws and because he was a young man with no criminal record. Mr. King also ordered that the gun and ammunition be destroyed.

After Gibson left the room Mr. King fixed his eyes on the four or five local men sitting in the court's dock and said: "A Bermudian youth couldn't say they don't know (about the firearms law). So don't start."

Mr. King later had a blow up with lawyer Larry Scott on the sentencing of a repeat offender who was imprisoned for four months for driving while disqualified.

Crown Counsel Oonagh Vaucrosson told the court that Gibson fired the weapon "several times on the porch area". It was later discovered by a chambermaid who called the Police when she found it on a bed in Gibson's room.

Gibson, a mechanic on the Royal Navy submarine HMS , has only been in the Navy for a year and this was his first deployment. His rank is not known.

He bought the pistol three weeks ago at a Wal-Mart in Florida. Since then the has been at sea. The pistol was stored in a bag on the submarine and Gibson took the bag to his hotel.

The sub's captain, Cdr. Mark Titcomb told Mr. King that Gibson "was unaware that under Bermuda law it is a serious offence to land the weapon" and that the Navy was already taking disciplinary action against him.

Cdr. Titcomb also said that the Navy might discharge Gibson because of the incident, Mr. Titcomb added that Gibson was "an inexperienced young man who is embarrassed by his actions".

Gibson apologised to the Police and court. He said he did not know it was illegal to own an air pistol in Bermuda. Even though he fired the weapon, he stressed that he had no intention of harming anyone with it.

Gibson also said that the whole ordeal ? he had been in a Police cell since Sunday afternoon ? has been an "unpleasant experience for myself and all those involved. I would like to carry on, get over this and move on".

Gibson could have been facing time in prison if Mr. King had not been lenient.

Guns and other firearms have been illegal in Bermuda since the assassination of Governor Sir Richard Sharples in March of 1973. Only licenced members of gun clubs are allowed to own weapons.

The last gun amnesty ended December 14, 2003 and at the time Home Affairs Minister Randolph Horton said: "The full authority of the law will be brought against anyone found in possession of a firearm or prohibited weapon."

Less than two weeks ago Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner sentenced Dennis Roberts, 58, of Knapton Hill to nine months in prison for possessing a smaller air pistol. Roberts had no previous criminal record.