Pistorius to face gun charges

Pretoria: Two gun-related charges will be added to murder-accused paralympian Oscar Pistorius at his trial, South Africa`s prosecution department has said.

The National Prosecution Authority said in Pretoria Tuesday that the additional charges are related to two incidents where Pistorius allegedly fired his gun in public. These are in contravention of the firearm controls act, according to the prosecution authority. Pistorius was charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his Pretoria home Feb 14. Lawyers of Pistorius attempted to prevent the gun charges from being added to his chargesheet, arguing that the gun charges are out of the court`s jurisdiction. However, the bid was eventually rejected by the National Prosecution Authority. The 26-year-old double-amputee athlete will receive his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in March next year, with the charges of murder and illegal possession of ammunition. Without the death sentence in South Africa, the double amputee Olympian might face a life sentence in prison if convicted of the main charge of premeditated murder. Pistorius claimed that he accidentally shot his girlfriend, while prosecutors believed that he intentionally killed her after the couple might have argued.