A Brooklyn dollar store is being slapped with some seriously steep fines for selling a plastic sheriff-themed toy set that includes one very plastic, retro-looking gun. The Department of Consumer Affairs is not kidding around with that whole "no fake guns" thing they've been harping about for years now, you guys!
$.99 Target in Flatlands is being fined $5,000—the maximum penalty—for each of the toy sets, coming to $30,000 total. Manager Khaled Mohammed says the store "cannot pay that fine at all" and called it a "really, really abusive penalty." Mohammed and his lawyer, Andrew Tilem, say another manager was present when a city inspector wrote up the shop and didn't tell the store's owner. The owner then missed his hearing, and thus received the giant fine. Tilem got Consumer Affairs to reopen the case and negotiate down to a settlement of $5,400, but the store says they can't afford that, either. As of right now, the judge in a third hearing is upholding the original fine.
While the fine does seem a bit steep for a tiny dollar store selling a plastic sheriff playset, there is good reason for the DCA rules—police have been known to shoot kids playing with BB guns that look too real.
