James Casamento, 68 of Warrnambool, pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday to firearm offences.

The charges relate to an incident on October 8 last year when Casamento left two unregistered action rifles in plain sight in the back of his unlocked 1999 Mitsubishi Magna parked on Warrnambool's Banksia Drive.

The firearms were found by Warrnambool police detectives who were searching for a man wanted on burglary charges.

The court heard the firearms were not registered or properly secured, and Casamento did not have a current firearm licence.

He was interviewed on November 13 and made full admissions to the offending.

Casamento told police he had purchased the guns 30 years earlier and they were usually stored in a locked cupboard. He said he was in the process of moving house and had popped into a friend's house when he forgot to lock his vehicle.

The court heard there was no ammunition located in the vehicle.

But magistrate Mark Stratmann said if the wrong person had located the guns, it could have been catastrophic.

"If someone had picked it up and pointed it at police members or anybody else, they could have lost their life," he said.

"This could have resulted in a disaster."

Casamento was convicted and fined $1200.

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