Realistic toy guns targeted in New York

ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 29 (UPI) -- New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says more than 100 companies must stop producing toy guns that look too much like real firearms.

Cuomo told the companies in a letter of his new initiative to enforce a state law that forbids all toy guns from being released in realistic colors, The Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle said Wednesday.

The state law, which dates back to the 1980s, also mandates toy guns feature an orange strip across their barrels to further indicate they are not real.

Cuomo said many New York companies have ignored the law for years by creating toy guns that look very similar to real firearms.

"I don't call them toy guns, I call them imitation guns," the state attorney general said. "If it's a toy gun, it should look like a toy."

The Democrat and Chronicle said among those companies receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Cuomo were Big Lots, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Gander Mountain.