JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — 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.
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.
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.
Pistorius registered the 9mm 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.
Under South Africa’s strict gun laws, a license is needed for every firearm owned. An applicant must undergo a competency test — which includes gun-safety training — before a license can be issued.