New York Cracking Down on Toy Gun Sales

The state of New York is cracking down on the sale of realistic-looking toy guns as five major retailers have agreed to pull the items from their shelves, reports the Washington Post .

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. According to Schneiderman’s office, those retailers sold 6,429 prohibited toy guns between 2012 and 2014.

New York state law prohibits the sale of aluminum toy guns and requires toy guns to have special markings on the sides and the tip of the barrel. As part of the agreement, the companies also agreed to abide by New York City’s stricter toy-gun law, which requires all toy guns to be brightly colored.

Realistic toy guns have become an issue again following high-profile police shootings last year. In September, police stormed an Ohio Wal-Mart and shot and killed John Crawford III, who had picked up from a store shelf an air rifle that shoots BBs. Months later, a Cleveland police officer shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who had a BB gun.