Pistorius trial Day 11: Oscar

Pistorius trial Day 11: Oscar passed tests on when not to shoot

Oscar Pistorius passed several tests on when not to shoot intruders, his gun supplier said. Day eleven of the trial added to the picture of the South African athlete as an avid gun collector.

Pistorius trial Day 11: Oscar

“Always know your target and what lies behind,” was one of Oscar Pistorius’s answers in a gun ownership test, the North Gauteng High Court court heard on Tuesday.

The statement came as gun expert Sean Patrick Rens was called on to provide evidence the athlete knew the rules on the legal use of firearms.

Rens read out a series of questions Pistorius had to answer to pass a gun ownership test, saying the runner had scored ‘top marks’ . The competency questionnaire included questions on when you are legally allowed to shoot intruders.

Pistorius is charged with the murder of girlfriend and 29-year-old model Reeva Steenkamp. The Paralympian maintains he was defending himself and Steenkamp from an intruder. He said he grabbed a 9mm revolver from under his bed and fired four shots through a locked toilet door in the early hours of 14 February 14 2013. Three of the bullet wounds proved fatal, hitting her in the hip, arm and head. Prosecutors say he killed her intentionally after an argument.

Tuseday’s proceedings followed a drip feed of evidence showing Pistorius was an avid gun collector, was quick to use guns in the name of self defence and faces two separate  charges of shooting firearms in a public place. In August 2012, an invoice processed barely weeks before his double gold win at the London Paralympics showed he’d put in an order for six guns totalling R48,000 (£2,700). This order was cancelled following the fatal shooting of Reeva Steenkamp.

The state is using the evidence to portray Pistorius as hot-headed and trigger-happy, to create a case for premeditated murder.

Defence counsel Barry Roux asked Rens if Pistorius would have been capable of firing through the door at the height the head and body would be. He answered that he would.