Retailers including Wal-Mart, Amazon, and Sears have reached a $300K compromise
with New York regulators who say that the outlets' sales of toy guns violate state law.
Federal law requires that toy guns display an orange strip to indicate non functionality, but New York law goes further by banning the sale of black, blue, silver, or aluminum imitation guns. (New York City goes even further---your mock glock needs to be transparent or brightly colored in the Big Apple.) Officials also hit a total of 67 online third-party sellers with cease-and-desist letters in an attempt to prevent indirect sales from slipping across state lines.
For their part, the New York AG's office is sticking to their guns (I'm so, so sorry) over the controversial crackdown; officials claim that their regulations work to keep citizens safe from
mix-ups with law enforcement:
“There have been instances in states around the country in which police officers have mistaken toy guns for actual guns,” Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general, said in an interview. “It’s an absolutely unnecessary risk, because toy guns, as New York law requires, can be easily distinguishable.”