The attorney general is slated to announce today settlements with five retailers, including some industry giants, for selling toy guns that don’t fit state appearance requirements.
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Wal-Mart, Amazon, Kmart, Sears and California-based ACTA agreed to pay a combined total of $300,000 in penalties for illegally selling “imitation weapons”, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Monday. New York state prohibits the sale of black, blue, silver or aluminum toy guns; New York City requires that imitation guns be brightly colored.
[The troubled legacy of toy guns]. New York is among a handful of states that introduced legislation in 2015 to create or amend toy gun laws.
There have been at least 63 shootings, at least eight fatal, in New York resulting from toy guns being mistaken for real weapons since 1994, according to Schneiderman.
“Time and again, these retailers put profits over safety, putting children and police officers at high risk of a tragic encounter”, Schneiderman, a Democrat, said in a statement.
The settlement was first reported by the New York Times. Federal law also requires toy guns to have an orange tip.
[Why this Manhattan gun store didn’t actually sell guns].
New York state prohibits the sale of black, blue, silver or aluminum toy guns. Most of the toys were sold online.
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The attorney general’s office also sent cease and desist letters to 67 third-party retailers who used Amazon and Sears.com to sell their products.
