Walmart is in trouble with authorities! The popular American retail store, that is increasing its sales numbers that it has even invested in gasoline, is being fined for selling unlawful products. Walmart sold gun toys that looked very real on their online store. Selling products that look like real illegal ones is illegal in the New York state, so some actions have been taken against the store. Let’s start with this case and see what happened in detail.
What was Walmart illegally selling?
Walmart is a very popular retail store in the United States with numerous sales numbers, which make it on the top 5 list of the most selling retail stores.
However, this company has made a mistake by selling gun toys, but they were so realistic that they can get mixed up with a real gun. This came to the attention of the New York state because selling replicas is against the New York legislation, so no gun toy must be sold if they are realistic.
Between 2020 and 2023, Walmart sold at least 46 of these gun toys on their online store, ‘Walmart.com’, and 9 of them were sent to Walmart Fulfillment Services. This means Walmart itself was the one storing and sending these gun toys, not external vendors.
New York legislation
In the American state of New York it is illegal to sell and buy black, dark blue, and silver gun replicas. The reason behind this is they can be confused with real guns. In order to sell gun toys, they must be using bright colors and transparent.
This might seem nuts, but there is a certain amount of fear because of the naturalization of citizens being armed. This is a preventive measure to avoid dangerous situations, like the one when two citizens were shot by the police because they were carrying gun replicas without any security required.
What happened to Walmart?
The retail store accepted paying a fine of $16,000 being $14,000 for infringement and the rest $2,000 for administrative charges. Apart from this, there was no other sanction.
The district attorney, Letitia James wanted to emphasize how dangerous this type of product could be for citizens and she mentioned the importance of protecting the community. She also warned companies that they must follow the state laws if they don’t want to get fined.
So, having this in mind, Walmart decided to take action and the company promised to avoid selling gun toy replicas on their online shop for New Yorker customers, and enhance the supervision when it comes to external vendors. They also said that if the later activity was infringed three times they would end their contract with that vendor.
Gun situation in New York
The gun laws in this state are so strict because of the increase of citizens carrying guns on the streets. What New York aims is to have a safer state and improve their public security. How are they doing this? By restrictions, license requirements, and measures to keep guns in a safe place.
This is a very delicate issue in America, because guns are a common thing among citizens and this has become a worrying issue for many American states, like New York. It is important that authorities are taking action and trying to figure out the best way to keep society safe.
Moreover, companies in America should take into account the social awareness on the use of guns and implement security policies on their companies to avoid contributing to this situation in a negative way. Let’s hope this problem will be less common in the near future if authorities and companies work together.