Paul Douglas Warmsley, 35, of St Leonards Rd, was sentenced in the Launceston Supreme Court. He will serve a minimum of seven years' jail.
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Warmsley had pleaded guilty to negligently causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated robbery and two counts of armed robbery.
Crown prosecutor John Ransom said the Director of Public Prosecutions Tim Ellis, SC, was still considering pursuing a dangerous criminal declaration.
Justice Ewan Crawford said that on February 19, 2004, Warmsley entered a Ravenswood supermarket armed with a shortened .22 bolt-action rifle and demanded money. He stole $730, several packets of cigarettes and $50 of phone cards.
Warmsley fled on foot after the shop owner chased off his getaway driver. He ran into the victim's property and threatened to kill the 46-year-old man in front of his six-year-old son.
"Wanting the keys to the householder's car, the accused dragged him towards the back door and demanded that he go outside to see if they were in the car," Justice Crawford said.
"Outside, the householder fell to the path. He was told to stand up and on doing so was shot in the stomach."
The bullet perforated the man's bowel and he suffered significant blood loss. His son saw the shooting through a window and rushed outside to help.
Both father and son suffered significant psychological effects and were both diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Warmsley was on the run for 13 days and robbed a woman of her car at Kings Meadows on March 1.
He crashed the car at Blessington later that day and was caught by police at Trevallyn two days after that.
Justice Crawford said it was no doubt a relief to police and the public that such a dangerous and desperate man had been captured.
He said that Warmsley's record of offending was usually motivated by his drug addiction.
"He turned to drugs such as methylamphetamine and Rohypnol and by his early 20s was an addict," he said.
"It has brought misery to others and to himself."
Justice Crawford said Warmsley had a significant history of offending including a rape in Queensland, armed robbery, aggravated robbery and assault.
"Since about 1995 he has only been out of prison for about two years in all," the judge said.
Warmsley was bailed to reappear on January 31, 2006, when a decision about pursuing the dangerous criminal declaration would be known.
