The World is now a safer place.

[Daniel11]

Was what he did stupid?: Yes. Did he harm anyone?: No.
Should he have got a jail sentence: In my opinion no. Why should he be locked up merely for the act of having an inanimate object?(Which the Police had already agreed at least in principle he ought to be allowed, even if the particular weapon was too small to be legal.)

[bitfield]

The article suggests he owned the gun legally until the 1997 ban and then "just kept it".

How is that possible if the gun is registered and police know it's on his ticket? Is it a case of reporting it stolen but keeping hold of it or something like that...?

No, it does say that it wasn't on his ticket:

"Even if he had handed it in, he would still have fallen foul of the law as he had no certificate for it."

So it was illegal (for him) before the ban, and for him and everyone else afterwards.

I have some sympathy for the man personally, but if I can't keep a Beretta in my bed, why should he be able to?