ALBANY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Thursday sent cease-and-desist letters to several major retailers, including Wal-Mart, Amazon and K-Mart, for allegedly selling prohibited toy guns online to residents of New York, including at a K-Mart store in suburban Rochester.
Schneiderman said the retailers should immediately stop the in-store and online sale and shipment to New Yorkers of toy guns that violate state law that bans most toy guns. Since 1997, at least four individuals have been killed in New York, and one child was seriously wounded, when law enforcement officers mistook toy guns for real guns, he said.
"When toy guns are mistaken for real guns, there can be tragic consequences," Schneiderman said in a statement. "New York state law is clear: Retailers cannot put children and law enforcement at risk by selling toy guns that are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing."
State law, Schneiderman said, prevents the sale of toy guns that look similar to real guns—such as ones that are black, blue, silver, or aluminum, unless they has a non-removable one-inch-wide orange stripe running down both sides of the barrel and the front end of the barrel.
Wal-Mart had previously drew the office ire for in-store sales of toy guns, which resulted in a court order prohibiting them from selling toy guns in New York. But now he said those sales are taking place online.
"This new investigation reveals that many prohibited toy guns, priced from less than $10 to as much as several hundred dollars, can be easily purchased online and shipped into the state. The recent investigation also uncovered that at least one retailer is selling illegal toy guns in its stores," Schneiderman's office said in a statement.
The Attorney General's Office sent cease and desist letters to: Wal-Mart; Amazon.com; K-Mart; Sears; and ToyArsenal.com
To report the sale of illegal toy guns, call Schneiderman's consumer help line at (800) 771-7755.
