New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s ban on toy guns kicked in last month, just in time for the holiday season.  

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Back in August, Hochul signed S.687/A.3998 into law, which prohibits the sale of what her administration calls “imitation weapons.”

The ban officially took effect on Nov. 13, approximately a week before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, arguably the busiest shopping days of the year.  

“My top priority as governor is keeping New Yorkers safe, and that means cracking down on devices used to commit crime,” Gov. Hochul said in a press release obtained by GunsAmerica. 

“Restricting these realistic-looking devices will ensure misleading and potentially dangerous devices are off our streets, keeping kids, law enforcement and all New Yorkers safe,” she continued. 

Not all toy guns are outlawed.  However, per Hochul’s administration, they “cannot be black, blue, silver or aluminum, and must be colored white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink, bright purple, or be made entirely of transparent or translucent materials.”

Democratic Assemblymember Tom Abinanti (D-92), who supported the measure, believes it has the potential to save lives.  

“Too many people have been killed or injured and too many crimes committed because a toy gun looked real,” said Abinanti.  

“Real guns that are misused are a big problem – we don’t need the problem compounded by toy guns that look real,” he added. 

Supporters of S.687/A.3998 contend that since 1994, there have been as many as 63 fatal shootings in New York State involving “imitation weapons” that were mistaken for real firearms. 

Out of those 63 shootings, eight were reported to be fatal. 

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