Man sent gun in internet mix-up

Applicants for Canadian firearms licences have to be vetted

A Canadian student who ordered an MP3 player over the internet from the US was shocked to receive a licensed handgun instead.

Brandon Buchan, 21, an English student at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, bid for the MP3 player on eBay, the Star Phoenix newspaper said.

The pawnshop that auctioned the device sent him an unloaded .22-calibre Smith & Wesson gun and a licence by mistake.

A Canadian customs official said not all parcels were X-rayed at the border.

'I'm no hit man'

The package, sent by courier, was labelled as containing an MP3 player.

"I was really shocked to see it was a gun," Mr Buchan told the newspaper.

"I'm not a hit man. I was mostly confused about it all. I thought 'How did this end up here?', and I figured it must just be a mistake."

The third-year student called the police, who removed the weapon.

He also e-mailed the shop, who are arranging for his MP3 player to be sent to him.

Mr Buchan says he is keeping a photocopy of the gun licence as a souvenir of the incident.

Applicants for firearm licences in Canada are subject to background checks, and all firearms must be registered.