New York – Retailers including Wal-Mart, Sears and Amazon have agreed to halt the sales of realistic-looking toy guns in New York and pay over $300,000 in penalties, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Monday.
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Schneiderman’s office found that five retailers and their third-party sellers sold over 6,400 toy guns from 2012 to 2014 that violated New York laws. Most of the toys were sold online.
The deal requires those retailers to apply New York City’s strict standards to sales statewide. New York state prohibits the sale of black, blue, silver or aluminum toy guns; New York City requires that imitation guns be brightly colored.
New York is among a handful of states that introduced legislation in 2015 to create or amend toy gun laws.
The push to regulate toy guns has increased since a Cleveland police officer fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in November as the boy was holding a realistic airsoft gun.
Schneiderman’s office also sent cease and desist letters to 65 third-party sellers that sold the toys in New York through Amazon and two third-party sellers that sold them through Sears.com.
Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings, which owns Kmart, said they were pleased to resolve the attorney general’s concerns. Wal-Mart said it has succeeded in blocking the sales since 2003, but some models had slipped through.
Amazon did not immediately respond to comment requests.
It is hard to figure how you can get in trouble if you sell toy guys, but if you sell real guns the law protects you from liability.