In this photo taken Thursday Feb. 14, 2013 a police officer holds a gun that was allegedly used in the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend of Olympian athlete Oscar Pistorius, at the Boschkop police station east of Pretoria. Oscar Pistorius arrived at a courthouse Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, for his bail hearing in the murder case of his girlfriend as South Africans braced themselves for the latest development in a story that has stunned the country. The Paralympic superstar was earlier seen leaving a police station in a dark suit with a charcoal gray jacket covering his head as he got into a police vehicle. Model Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed at Pistorius' upmarket home in an eastern suburb of the South African capital in the predawn hours of Thursday. (AP Photo/Phill Magakoe, Pretoria News) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
In this photo taken Thursday Feb. 14, 2013 a police officer holds a gun that was allegedly used in the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend of Olympian athlete Oscar Pistorius, at the Boschkop police station east of Pretoria. Oscar Pistorius arrived at a courthouse Friday, Feb. 15, 2013, for his bail hearing in the murder case of his girlfriend as South Africans braced themselves for the latest development in a story that has stunned the country. The Paralympic superstar was earlier seen leaving a police station in a dark suit with a charcoal gray jacket covering his head as he got into a police vehicle. Model Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed at Pistorius' upmarket home in an eastern suburb of the South African capital in the predawn hours of Thursday. (AP Photo/Phill Magakoe, Pretoria News) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
Olympian Oscar Pistorius, foreground, stands following his bail hearing, as his brother Carl, left, and father Henke, second from left, look on in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Pistorius fired into the door of a small bathroom where his girlfriend was cowering after a shouting match on Valentine's Day, hitting her three times, a South African prosecutor said Tuesday as he charged the sports icon with premeditated murder. The magistrate ruled that Pistorius faces the harshest bail requirements available in South African law. (AP Photo)
FILE - This is a Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012 file photo of South Africa's Oscar Pistorius as he reacts after finishing first in a men's 400-meter heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday Feb. 14. 2013 with the murder of his girlfriend who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Olympian Oscar Pistorius, foreground, stands following his bail hearing, as his brother Carl, centre, and father Henke, right, look on, in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Pistorius fired into the door of a small bathroom where his girlfriend was cowering after a shouting match on Valentine's Day, hitting her three times, a South African prosecutor said Tuesday as he charged the sports icon with premeditated murder. The magistrate ruled that Pistorius faces the harshest bail requirements available in South African law. He did not elaborate before a break was called in the session. (AP Photo-Masi Losi-Pretoria News) SOUTH AFRICA OUT
JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Oscar Pistorius applied for firearm licenses for six more guns weeks before the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp inside his house on Feb. 14, according to official records obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The applications were made on Jan. 22, just over three weeks before Pistorius shot his girlfriend dead in his home with a licensed 9 mm pistol.
The athlete says the killing of Steenkamp was accidental as he thought she was a dangerous intruder inside his bathroom. Prosecutors say the double-amputee athlete intended to kill his girlfriend and have charged him with premediated murder.
In details obtained from the South African Police Service's National Firearms Center and given over the telephone, Pistorius applied for licenses for a Smith & Wesson model 500 revolver, a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, a Vector .223-caliber rifle and three shotguns: A Mossberg shotgun, a Maverick shotgun and a Winchester shotgun.
The details were given to the AP by two separate officials at the government department. They refused to give their names because they were not authorized to speak to the media, although the records are available to the public.
Pistorius registered the 9 mm handgun used in the Valentine's Day killing for self-defense, the firearm center officials said. The six outstanding applications listed those guns for Pistorius' private collection.
The six recent firearm license applications were sent back to a police and firearms station in Johannesburg to be reapplied for on Monday, four days after Steenkamp's killing, the officials said. No reasons were given why the applications were sent back to be refiled.
Pistorius' license for the 9 mm Parabellum pistol that was used in Steenkamp's shooting was issued to Pistorius on Sept. 10, 2010 on appeal after an initial application in 2008 was rejected. One of the officials said the rejection was procedural as Pistorius had passed his competency test and had no criminal record.
The 9 mm pistol license card was printed on Sept. 16, 2010 and received by Pistorius on Sept. 27, 2010, the officials said.
Under South Africa's strict gun laws, you need a license for every firearm you own. An applicant must undergo a competency test ? which includes gun safety training ? before a license can be issued.
Pistorius would also have had to provide three character referees, one of the firearms center officials said, one of whom must be a family member and one of whom must be a neighbor.
Associated Pressmega millions winners anthony davis palm sunday toure patti smith lottery winners lottery winners
