Shooting robber wrong (?) "A service station employee found himself on the wrong side of the law when he allegedly shot a suspected robber and ended up behind bars. Michael J. Budd, 27, of Amherst Street, who was arrested Monday, is accused of grabbing the gun of Joseph P. Davis, 18, of East Ferry Street, chasing him and then shooting him in the left arm. Police said Davis was trying to hold up an Elmwood Avenue gas station Sunday night while Budd was working. Davis, who was treated in Erie County [NY] Medical Center, was charged with two counts of robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. Budd was charged with second-degree assault. ... Police on Monday said Budd was arrested because the shooting was unjustified."



Intended victim shoots would be robbers: "Police say they now believe that two men found shot in the Essex Village Apartments complex early Tuesday had attempted to rob another man at gunpoint. But the attempted robbery victim pulled his own gun and wounded the men after a struggle, said Lt. Doug Perry, a Henrico County police spokesman. The suspects were still hospitalized at VCU Medical Center last night and were listed in stable condition, Perry said. Police said the man who wounded the pair is a 25-year-old Henrico resident. Police did not release his name. He was visiting his girlfriend, who lives in the apartment complex near Richmond International Raceway, when the suspects confronted him about 12:25 a.m., Perry said".



Two elderly women defend themselves in separate home invasions: "Police are looking for this man who they think tried to invade two homes owned by 80-year-old women. "The suspect went to the house on Longcreek Road and tried to kick the front door in. The elderly women let the suspect know she had a gun and when she did, he took of running. Minutes later, there was another home invasion on Middleton Road and she shot at the suspect and he left," says Sheriff Barry Haston. He thinks the invasions are connected because the houses were six miles away from each other. The sheriff says the man didn't steal anything from the second home, but did try to rape the woman. Sheriff Haston says having the guns kept those women alive."







MAKING YOUR OWN STILL OK IN AUSTRALIA

Do-it-yourself guides to making guns have been given the green light by a Brisbane court. But Australian Customs has appealed the decision and wants the man who imported them prosecuted. The Sunshine Coast man was cleared of breaking the law when he imported the books and videos from the United States detailing how to construct the homemade firearms. A Brisbane magistrate ruled that the books fell outside of Customs regulations.

Customs officers in Sydney intercepted a package addressed to Graham Carman's Beerwah home in December 2001. Inside was a video Home Weaponry Workshop - a guide to constructing your own guns, and a series of books, Home Workshop Guns For Defence and Resistance, for handguns and automatic rifles. In May 2002, Customs officers raided Mr Carman's home and found a magazine advertising books on drug smuggling, producing fake ID and more on producing guns. One advertisement, for Expedient Homemade Firearms, The 9mm Sub-Machinegun read: "The book provides step-by-step instructions for an expedient 9mm sub-machinegun that is easily constructed from readily available materials, primarily steel tubing that does not require a lathe and milling machine and can be built by anyone in about a week." Many of the titles are available on websites for under $30.

Mr Carman, 44, was charged with two offences of importing and possessing prohibited imports. The Act prohibits the import of publications that promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence. In November, Magistrate Gordon Dean ruled that while he found Mr Carman's material distasteful, it was not unlawful.

Lawyers for Australian Customs lodged an appeal, and have called on Judge John McGill in the Brisbane District Court to set aside the magistrate's decision. They said the video, aimed at the US market, transcends a mere explanation of techniques and carries an element of encouragement. Their submission says the books are "essentially a step-by-step guide to constructing various weapons".

Mr Carman's lawyers said that even if they did instruct how to make weapons, it did not mean they encouraged crime or violence. "Firearms can be used for many things including prevention of crime and violence or in sport and recreation," they submitted. Mr Carman told The Sunday Mail he believes Customs were guilty of a knee-jerk reaction in the light of the September 11 attacks and fears over homeland terrorist attacks. Mr Carman, who works for an earthmoving company, claims the books, which he ordered from a US website, were for a friend who did not have a credit card.

The material found in his home were the items he re-ordered when the intercepted goods did not arrive. Mr Carman, a member of the Sporting Shooters Association, said he had only recently developed an interest in gunsmithing - the making of guns - but that he had no intention of making one himself.

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