Massimo Sammarco had the weapons confiscated by police and copped multiple fines in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.

The court heard the 55-year-old ordered the weapons under a pay-it-later scheme from a company specialising in the "toy" guns.

"[He] thought that these were toys. They were bought when the COVID period first hit, due to boredom, just to shoot cans. [He] didn't realise the severity," said Sammarco's defence lawyer Patrick Schmidt, who handed Magistrate Susan McGowan samples of content posted the company's website.

"I'd like your honour to have a look at that website. It's actually quite scary that there's not a single warning to say these are prohibited weapons in NSW. It appears they've now added an orange part to the front of the gun so it can be considered a toy."

A section of the website is dedicated to the question "are gel blasters legal?", but merely calls on customers to "check with their local law enforcement and local law".

Gel blasters are legal in Queensland but have been subject to increasingly tighter restrictions around their storage and use. They are classed as illegal weapons in NSW. They take ammunition in the form of tiny absorbent balls that swell up into soft gel spheres about 8mm in diameter, once soaked in water.

A relative alerted police to the guns at Sammarco's home in the context of an unrelated domestic dispute.

Police found three firearms and a prohibited weapon - a laser pointer.

The court heard Sammarco received a suspended sentence for an unauthorised firearm in 2013.

On Tuesday he was placed on a 12-month intensive corrections order for common assault. The court registry withheld all details of this, citing domestic violence reasons.

Sammarco was fined $1500 for the gel blasters, $500 for the laser pointer and $250 for not storing the weapons safely.