Don’t point that thing at me! Wal-Mart was shot down this week by New York state’s Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer. The AG took aim at Wal-Mart’s violation of New York state law, which requires that toy guns have a non-removable orange stripe along the end of the barrel. Spitzer accused Wal-Mart of selling toy guns without this specific safeguard. The AG’s original lawsuit against Wal-Mart was filed last April. “The sale and use of toy guns without proper safety measures,” the AG’s office said, “puts both our children and our law enforcement officers at the risk of injury and possibly death.” Three years ago, two teenagers from Brooklyn were shot and killed by undercover New York cops who thought the teens’ toy guns were real. In the Wal-Mart settlement in the state’s Supreme Court, the company also agreed not to sell toy guns in black, blue, silver or aluminum, to ensure that they are not mistaken for real guns.
Real guns and real ammunition, however, remain available at most Wal-Mart stores in the United States. But at least Wal-Mart’s “toying” with New York state gun laws has been rectified.
