New York: "Wal-Mart stops toy gun sales in N.Y."

[cuchulainn]

http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/archive/articleD0311C29530043B4932264F6BAF5340A.asp

Wal-Mart stops toy gun sales in N.Y.

By Alicia Chang
The Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. — Wal-Mart suspended sales of toy guns in its New York stores on Thursday after the state sued, accusing the retailer of selling toys that lack required safety markings to distinguish them from real weapons.
The toy guns have orange caps on their barrels, as required by federal law, but they don’t have nonremoveable orange stripes down the barrel’s length as New York law requires, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s lawsuit contends.
Safety experts say the brightly colored markings help police officers distinguish toy guns from real weapons, and that the permanent stripes are 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,’’ Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said in a statement Thursday. ‘‘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 it relies on the suppliers of their toys to deliver products that comply with local laws.

 

[cuchulainn]

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030411/RGUNN/TPBusiness/TopStories

U.S. official gets Wal-Mart to suspend N.Y. toy gun sales

By DAVID AKIN
Friday, April 11, 2003 - Page B1

Thursday, Apr. 10

After bringing Wall Street's titans to heel last year, New York State's ambitious Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer has won round one against the world's biggest retailer in a showdown over toy guns.

Mr. Spitzer said yesterday he sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on March 31 for selling toy guns that look too much like the real thing, a violation of state law.

"This law is clear in its requirements and unassailable in its intent to ensure the safety of children and help law enforcement officials do their job."

Yesterday, Wal-Mart said it had suspended sales of toy cap guns in all of its stores in New York State.

"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 spokeswoman Karen Burk said in a statement. "We will continue to work through this issue and co-operate with the New York State Attorney-General to resolve this matter."

Wal-Mart not only sells more toy guns than anyone else in the United States, it also sells more real guns than any other retailer. The retailer sold more than 42,000 toy guns in New York State in the last 2½ years, according to the Attorney-General.

Mr. Spitzer's battle with Wal-Mart is his latest tilt with a giant of Corporate America. Political observers in New York say Mr. Spitzer's "get-tough" stand with big business is helping to boost his electoral fortunes, including a possible run for the New York State governor's job in 2006.

The Attorney-General has successfully sued 13 retailers since 2001 for illegally selling toy guns.

State law requires that toy guns bear bright orange, non-removable markings so that they can be easily distinguished from real guns.

"Without clear markings, it is extremely difficult to tell the difference between a toy gun and a real weapon," Matthew Tynan, president of the State Police Investigators Union, said in a statement released by Mr. Spitzer's office.

Police killed a man in Brooklyn, N.Y., in August, after mistaking the toy gun he was carrying for a real gun. There have been other similar incidents in New York, including the death in the spring of 2000 of two New York City teenagers who were shot by police while carrying toy guns.

Mr. Spitzer's office said the toy guns sold at New York State Wal-Mart stores only have orange barrel caps that are easily removed.

In Canada, some store owners have been charged with selling toy guns that looked too much like the real thing. Canada has laws restricting replica firearms, objects made, often for collectors, to look like the real thing.

Mr. Spitzer gained international attention last year for successfully suing several Wall Street brokerages saying research practices had misled investors during the dot-com boom.

The Wall Street firms agreed to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the claims.

Mr. Spitzer's zeal for taking on big corporate targets is playing well on Main Street but not on Wall Street, say observers.

"While he's not a popular figure on Wall Street, that's like not being popular with the Devil. Big deal," said Fred Dicker, Albany, N.Y.-based state editor for the New York Post.

"Up until Spitzer came along, the only ones who really went after white-collar crime was the Feds. Spitzer has added a new element to the corporate behaviour picture," said a New York State political reporter who declined to speak on the record.

Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, won two-thirds of all votes cast in November's state election for Attorney-General.

"Spitzer is clearly perceived, and legitimately so, as a front-runner for the nomination. He's the highest profile New York State Democrat now, thinking in terms of a statewide campaign," said Mr. Dicker.

Mr. Spitzer's supporters have started to raise money for an unspecified "statewide" campaign. The next election for governor is in 2006.

In interviews with New York media outlets, Mr. Spitzer has said he is considering such a run for governor.

Mr. Spitzer, who comes from a wealthy family and has funded his own campaigns, does not need to curry Wall Street's favour in order to raise political campaign funds, say observers.

The suit was filed March 31 in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. New York State is asking the court to prohibit Wal-Mart from selling the toy guns and is also seeking unspecified financial penalties.

David Akin is national business and technology correspondent for CTV News and a contributing writer to The Globe and Mail.

© 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc.

 

[Standing Wolf]

That'll sure keep New York safe!

This is the second story in two days about Wal Mart "voluntarily" agreeing with leftist extremist government officials to stop selling firearms or toy firearms. Is this a trend?