I must agree this does not look like a scumbag. But his dad said it best. How could he have lived with himself if all sorts of consequences of trying to do it in house: retribution, use of the gun + bullets in other crimes, etc.
Im glad his Dad is sticking by him, and that the son realises why he done it. Its quite heartening to see.
The sentence was political with the current climate too.
More importantly, where the hell is the moron who asked the lad to hide the gun in the first place? I hope the lad ratted him out.