[Editor's note: The use of sarcasm will be employed in this article. While the article is sarcastic, the facts and quotes are all correct. Refrain from flooding me with hate mail!]
In a bold move to protect the citizens of New York City, the Department of Consumer Affairs negotiated a $500,000 settlement with crime menace Party City. Party City, in flagrant disregard for the residents of NYC, had been selling toy guns to anyone with the cash who walked in off the street.
“Fake guns that look real aren’t toys. In fact, they’re so dangerous that selling them is illegal,” said Consumer Affairs Commissioner Jonathan Mintz. “The City is committed to cracking down on every single violator of this public safety law and will seek maximum penalties when businesses fail to get the message.”
Mintz and his crack squad of consumer investigators caught Party City in a ring of illegal toy gun sales in April 2008. Apparently selling to anyone, Party City was charged by the city with almost 800 counts of illegal toy gun sales.
And this is not the first time Party City has been caught selling illegal toy guns on the streets of New York City. In 2003, the Department of Consumer Affairs busted Party City for selling illegal toy guns. In that case, Party City paid $150,000 in fines.
This time, Party City isn’t getting off so easy. In addition to the half-a-million dollar fine, DCA required Party City to pay for an independent monitor who will perform unannounced weekly inspections of Party City’s shelves and review its advertising in New York City over the next year. Further, to ensure Party City’s compliance, the settlement allows DCA to double the fine for future imitation gun violations from $1,000 to $2,000.
Since 2002, DCA enforcement teams have removed more than 7,000 guns from the shelves of more than 220 stores throughout the City, and levied $3.3 million in fines.
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