Walmart fined for transport reasonable toy weapons to New York, violating state regulation

Walmart agreed to pay a small high-quality and promised to make sure its third-party resellers are not able to promote reasonable browsing toy weapons to patrons in New York, after state Attorney General Letitia James mentioned Tuesday that the retail massive’s on-line retailer shipped them to the state.

The agreement comes just about a decade after Walmart, Amazon, Sears and different shops entered right into a consent order and judgment with New York’s earlier lawyer basic, during which they agreed to stay toy weapons that resemble precise fatal guns off their cabinets statewide they usually paid civil consequences that crowned $300,000.

The 2015 order was once a part of a national reckoning over reasonable browsing toy weapons within the wake of the deadly taking pictures of Tamir Rice, a 12 year-old Cleveland boy who was once killed by way of police in November 2014 whilst preserving a pellet gun.

The New York regulation bans shops from promoting or transport toy weapons of positive colours — black, darkish blue, silver, or aluminum — that seem like actual guns.

Toy weapons bought within the state should be “made in bright colors or made entirely of transparent or translucent materials,” with companies matter to a high-quality of $1,000 in line with violation, in line with James’ place of work.

James mentioned on Tuesday that an investigation by way of her place of work discovered that Walmart’s on-line retailer had shipped a minimum of 9 reasonable browsing toy weapons bought by way of third-party dealers to New York City, Westchester County and Western New York.

But the investigation additionally discovered that between March 2020 and November 2023, a minimum of 46 imitation guns that violate New York state regulation have been bought by way of shoppers within the state throughout the Walmart.com platform, the agreement printed.

“Realistic-looking toy guns can put communities in serious danger and that is why they are banned in New York,” James mentioned in a remark.

“Walmart failed to prevent its third-party sellers from selling realistic-looking toy guns to New York addresses, violating our laws and putting people at risk,” she mentioned.

“The ban on realistic-looking toy guns is meant to keep New Yorkers safe and my office will not hesitate to hold any business that violates that law accountable.”

Walmart should pay $14,000 in consequences and $2,000 in charges underneath the agreement, the AG’s place of work mentioned.

CNBC has asked remark from Walmart, which neither admitted nor denied the findings by way of James’ place of work in its investigation.

As a part of the agreement, Walmart is needed to ban 0.33 events from providing on the market or promoting any of the imitation weapons lined by way of the state regulation to patrons in New York.

“Walmart shall terminate the ability of a third party from being able to list and sell toy guns and imitation weapons on Walmart.com when it has determined that a third party has engaged in conduct” that violates that restriction on 3 separate events, the agreement mentioned.

And “Walmart shall implement and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent such third parties from offering for sale, exposing for sale, or selling Prohibited Items on Walmart.com for importation, holding for sale, or distribution to New York,” the agreement says.