A US woman who flew to Australia with a gold-plated pistol in her luggage has been sentenced to a year in jail, despite claiming she brought it with her for protection.

Liliana Goodson pleaded guilty to charges of illegally importing an unauthorised firearm and illegally importing ammunition.

On Monday, the 30-year-old was sentenced in Sydney’s Downing Centre local court to the 12-month jail term, of which four months will be served in full-time custody.

  • ramsorge@discuss.online
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    2 days ago

    she had come to Australia to attend clown school and claimed she brought the gun for protection

    This is my favorite part.

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    This story really has just so much going for it: Florida woman. American with a gun. American ignorant of other countries. Clown college. Face tattoos. Lying to the police with hilarious evidence.

    Do you have anything prohibited?

    No.

    What about this gun?

    Oh, I forgot about that.

    “A review of Goodson’s phone revealed she had searched online “can I have a gun in my suitcase?” and set a calendar entry with a note reminding her to “put gun in suitcase”.”

    • ours@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Oh, and her “defensive gun” is a blinged-out gold-plated 1911 that would make a Cartel boss blush.

      Not exactly the most practical gun for self-defense and she confesses she would be afraid to shoot it and therefore probably doesn’t know how to use it properly.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I loved that she said she would probably pistol whip someone instead of shooting them. Just the best response.

    • piyuv@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I believe she wasn’t lying when she said she forgot about the gun, she seems that stupid to me

      • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        If she has to put a reminder to remember to bring the gun I think she could have forgotten. Is being dumb a legal defense in Australia?

  • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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    3 days ago

    despite claiming she brought it with her for protection.

    Why is that relevant?

    Importing illegal items into another country isn’t dependent on why you want to do it. It’s still illegal.

    • Jimmyeatsausage@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      We just elected someone who promised to fix everyone’s cost of living concerns by deporting 1/3 of our agriculture workforce and applying blanket tariffs. We are not a smart people.

  • tehWrapper@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    “despite claiming she brought it with her for protection.”

    What an odd way to word that from the writer?

    • Soup@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Yea, it reads as though that would be a totally reasonable defense but she had more nefarious aims and was lying.

      • Geobloke@lemm.ee
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        2 days ago

        I don’t believe that is a legal reason for a gun licence in Australia, well at least in my state. You can get a licence to own a gun if you need it for entertainment purposes

      • catloaf@lemm.ee
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        3 days ago

        Based on the characterization from the article, I don’t think she has too much going on upstairs.

  • JaymesRS
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    3 days ago

    Makes sense. That thing was op, they tried limiting it with only holding one shot, but it was an auto kill if you hit with it. Throwing knives was much more fun.

  • zod000@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    The headline about this from another news site is definitely better “Clown School Student Who Tried to Smuggle Gold-Plated Pistol into Australia Claims Google Said It Was ‘OK’”. The more details I read about this story, the crazier it gets. This clown school student is from Florida (of course she is), and she previously had multiple guns but accidentally left them in her donation box. I hope it wasn’t a Toys for Tots donation, but at this point who knows.

  • ChanchoManco@lemm.ee
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    2 days ago

    When asked where she planned to store the gun while she was in Australia, she indicated under a vehicle’s passenger seat, the court was told…

    Oh yeah that’ll calm down those pricks.

  • Prox@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    She’s sporting some badass lookin’ headphones. Visibly worn, presumably from use, and then blinged out with googly eyes.