Wal-Mart has stopped selling toy guns in its New York stores, a move made after state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued the company saying that it was selling toy guns that lacked required safety markings to distinguish them from real weapons.
While federal law requires that toy guns have orange caps on their barrels, New York State requires that they also have nonremoveable orange stripes down the barrel's length, which are supposed to help police officers distinguish toy guns from real weapons. Permanent stripes are believed to be important because the plastic barrel caps can fall off or be removed.
“In our continued efforts to be a responsible retailer, we have made the decision to suspend sales of all toy cap guns in New York,” Wal-Mart said in a statement. “This decision is based on the belief by the attorney general that some of the toy cap guns we are selling do not comply with the law.” Wal-Mart said that suppliers are supposed to deliver products that comply with the law.
Wal-Mart reportedly sold more than 42,000 toy guns in New York in the past 2 1/2 years.
While federal law requires that toy guns have orange caps on their barrels, New York State requires that they also have nonremoveable orange stripes down the barrel's length, which are supposed to help police officers distinguish toy guns from real weapons. Permanent stripes are believed to be important because the plastic barrel caps can fall off or be removed.
“In our continued efforts to be a responsible retailer, we have made the decision to suspend sales of all toy cap guns in New York,” Wal-Mart said in a statement. “This decision is based on the belief by the attorney general that some of the toy cap guns we are selling do not comply with the law.” Wal-Mart said that suppliers are supposed to deliver products that comply with the law.
Wal-Mart reportedly sold more than 42,000 toy guns in New York in the past 2 1/2 years.
- KC's View:
- Is this the difference between New York and California? After all, it was in California this week that Wal-Mart stopped selling real guns. In New York, it’s fake guns.
