Customs Sweep Nets 650,000 Toy Guns

A nationwide sweep by the U.S. Customs Service, including a seizure earlier this month in Los Angles, has netted more than 650,000 toy gun imports worth $900,000 that were confiscated because the replicas look too much like deadly weapons, officials said Monday.

The latest seizure was made July 5 when agents here confiscated 12,000 toy rifles from an undisclosed location, said Ed Kittredge, a spokesman for the Customs Service. Kittredge was unable to provide any other details about the Los Angeles case, but said seizures have also been made in Boston, Seattle, San Juan and other major ports since April.

The toy guns, which range from cheap water pistols to costly authentic collector’s replicas, violate a federal law enacted last year that requires markings to distinguish the toys from real weapons. The markings usually consist of a bright orange plug permanently fixed in the muzzle or a bright orange band around the end of the muzzle, the Customs Service said.