Wal-Mart, Amazon, Sears, and K-Mart are under fire for selling toy guns that look too realistic.
New York's attorney general has sent cease-and-desist letters to the retailers ordering them to stop selling the toys, which include plastic versions of assault rifles and handguns, the AP reports.
New York state law prohibits the sale of toy guns in "realistic" colors such as black, blue, silver, and aluminum, unless it has an orange stripe running down both sides of the barrel and the front end of the barrel.
An investigation found that Wal-Mart, Amazon, K-Mart, and others were allegedly selling prohibited toy guns online.
A K-Mart store in Rochester was also found to be selling the banned toys, according to the attorney general's office.
Among the toys that investigators obtained was this AK-47 lookalike:
Investigators were also able to purchase this toy handgun, which doesn't have orange stripes running down the sides of the barrel, as state law mandates.
The attorney general is cracking down on toy guns one month after a 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun was shot and killed by police in Ohio.
In New York, at least four people have been killed since 1997 and one child was seriously wounded when law enforcement officers mistook toy guns for real guns, according to the attorney general.
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"When toy guns are mistaken for real guns, there can be tragic consequences," Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. "New York State law is clear: retailers cannot put children and law enforcement at risk by selling toy guns that are virtually indistinguishable from the real thing."
Wal-Mart said Thursday that it has responded by placing a shipping block on the toy guns in question.
"Once this matter was brought to our attention we placed a shipping block on our website to prevent the mentioned items from being sent to the state of New York," a spokesman said. "We’re also confident that measures are in place to prevent these items from being sold at our New York stores."
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