Democratic senators send letter urging updates to toy gun regulations

A trio of Democratic senators sent a letter Thursday to the acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission urging the agency to update rules governing the appearance of toy guns and nonlethal firearms, which can be mistaken by law enforcement for deadly weapons.

The June letter noted a litany of studies showing that the current minimal requirements for toy weapons are ineffective for law enforcement in distinguishing them from lethal weapons. In 2014, Tamir Rice, 12, was killed in Cleveland after police officers responded to reports of a child brandishing a"probably" fake weapon. Rice, holding an airsoft gun, was shot dead by the officers after they arrived on scene. The officers claimed they thought the weapon was real, and a dispatcher apparently did not inform them the gun was likely a toy.

Both Blumenthal and Markey sit on the key Senate Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Trade, and Consumer Protection, and Blumenthal serves as its ranking member. "As gun sales continue to fall, firearm manufacturers are looking for new and novel ways to target a younger demographic," the June letter said."Licensing deals whereby firearm manufacturers allow their products to be reproduced as imitation guns are part of a broader strategy to market their products to children.

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