Facing Suit, Sears OKs Halt to Lawn Dart Sales

Sears, Roebuck & Co. on Wednesday agreed in a consent decree to stop selling lawn darts, a dangerous recreational product, within a week.

The national retailer’s agreement, which carried no admission of wrongdoing, came in response to a federal court lawsuit filed the same day by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The commission alleged that numerous Sears stores have sold the metal-tipped lawn darts without complying with federal regulations requiring that conspicuous, adults-only warning labels be placed on each box.

The consent decree was a victory for David Snow, a Riverside engineer whose yearlong, one-man campaign against lawn darts resulted in stepped-up federal enforcement that, in turn, led to the commission’s lawsuit against Sears, the nation’s largest retailer.

Snow’s 7-year-old daughter was killed at her home last April by an errantly thrown lawn dart that penetrated her skull. Subsequently, Snow pressured the commission to compile statistics showing that lawn dart injuries had sent nearly 5,000 children to hospital emergency rooms during the last decade. Previous commission statistics had listed only a few dozen such injuries.

“This is fantastic. It’s a start,” said Snow, who is currently attempting to lobby for passage of a Senate bill that would ban lawn darts. The bill was introduced earlier this month at his behest by Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.)

Lawn darts are an outdoor game in which the darts are thrown through the air and then stick in the ground near a target. They were banned by the government in 1970 as a hazardous product, but after a court challenge by importers the ban was replaced by an exemption that allows the darts to be sold if they carry adults-only warnings and are not sold in toy departments.

Changes Possible

The consent decree is not iron-clad. While Sears commits itself to removing lawn darts from its shelves within seven days, the decree acknowledges the possibility that the retailer might one day change its mind. If Sears were to do that, it would have to take steps to put each store employee, not just managers, on notice about the adults-only nature of the product. Warning signs would have to be placed in each store warning employees of the federal marketing regulations.

Members of the product safety commission have on several occasions turned down Snow’s plea to ban the lawn dart, but they did agree last October to increase enforcement actions. Two subsequent surveys of importers and retailers found substantial violations.

First Suit Filed

A month ago, the commission filed its first lawn dart-related lawsuit, accusing Menard Inc. of improperly selling darts at some Wisconsin and Minnesota stores. Menard is contesting the suit.

Commission General Counsel James V. Lacy said the lawsuit against Sears was based on violations at eight stores in four states, including Sears outlets in Glendale, Los Angeles and Inglewood.

He said Sears, which has 815 full-line stores, had informed the commission that lawn darts are sold in 491 of the outlets.

However a Sears spokesperson, C. W. Rule, said he believes that information was several months old and that few stores still carry the product.

Acted in Good Faith

Another Sears spokesperson, Kathy Gucfa, said Sears had “acted in good faith to comply” with the federal marketing requirements, but “some stores inadvertently failed to apply the (warning) labels” that had been sent from the firm’s headquarters.

Lacy complimented Sears for agreeing to the consent decree, and said he felt the commission’s lawsuit “will send a strong message to the business community that the commission is serious about enforcing its regulations.”

Commission member Anne Graham, who earlier this month unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the commission’s two other members to vote for a ban on lawn darts, said the consent decree “is fine in and of itself . . . but I’m dismayed to see that a major chain is still selling them, and it reinforces my belief that they should be banned.”