Australians arming themselves with bats following spate of home invasions: report

Sports stores in the Australian city of Melbourne have sold out of baseball bats as Victorian residents arm themselves against young criminals responsible for a spate of violent house invasions, according to local media.

A Melbourne radio station on Wednesday morning fielded several calls from store owners and residents in the western suburbs who said the recent jump in home invasions and car jackings had forced them to take the law into their own hands.

A leading sports retailer in Melbourne's west said he had sold out of baseball bats after three violent home invasion incidents occurred earlier this month.

One caller rang the radio station to explain the shortage: "And it ain't because of an influx of baseball players," he said.

During the three home invasions, a man was stabbed, a couple was forced to hide in a bathroom and one family was confronted in their living room. There have also been a host of separate car-jacking incidents across Victoria in the past few months.

Many other Victorians called into the radio station on Wednesday to explain that they too had begun to arm themselves with a range of household items including machetes, samurai swords, golf clubs, hair spray and even spear guns.

Despite police warnings, residents have formed makeshift neighborhood watch groups, while others have begun patrolling the streets at night.

"In regards to the comments about community patrols, we cannot stress enough the risks that go with it," local police in a western-suburb posted on their social media community page.

The state has been on high alert since the violent attacks at Melbourne's annual family festival - Moomba - during March earlier this year.

Two rival gangs - including the Apex, which is a street gang of young men living in Melbourne, ran riot as they brawled through Melbourne's city square, terrifying thousands of festival goers. Enditem