World

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

In this photo taken Tuesday, Feb 26, 2012, participants take part in target practice at a shooting range in Krugersdorp, South Africa.  (AP Photo/Cobus Bodenstein)

An official at a South African gun collectors' club where Oscar Pistorius was a member says he steadily became an avid collector of firearms in his Olympic year. He says Pistorius bought a collection of pistols and shotguns, all American manufactured, his favourite.

John Beare, vice chairman of the Lowveld Firearm Collectors Association, told The Associated Press that Pistorius also purchased a semi-automatic rifle for his expanding collection at the end of 2012.

That coincided with the early stages of Pistorius' romance with Reeva Steenkamp, the model he shot and killed at his home in the early hours of Feb. 14.

Prosecutors have charged Pistorius with premeditated murder for killing Steenkamp with three of four shots fired from his 9 mm pistol. Pistorius said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder.