§5001 Penalties for entering into commerce of imitation firearms

Summary

It is illegal to make, sell, ship, transport, or receive any toy, look‑alike, or imitation firearm unless it has a marking approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Most such items must have a permanently attached blaze orange plug in the barrel. The plug must be no more than 6 millimeters recessed from the muzzle. CPSC can allow a different mark when a plug won’t work, can waive the mark for items used only in movies or theater, and can change the marking rules after talking with interested people. A "look‑alike firearm" means an imitation of a real gun made since 1898, like toy guns, water guns, nongun replicas, and air‑soft guns that shoot nonmetallic pellets. The Bureau of Justice Statistics must study criminal misuse and report on marked vs unmarked items. The National Institute of Justice must test the marking system, starting within 3 months after November 5, 1988 and finishing within 9 months after that date. The rules take effect 6 months after November 5, 1988 and apply to items made or sold after November 5, 1988. State or local rules that conflict are overridden, but states still cannot ban the sale or manufacture of nonfiring collector replicas of antiques made before 1898, or ban the sale (except to minors) of traditional BB, paint‑ball, or pellet air guns.