New Toy Gun, Cigarette Laws in Arkansas

(Little Rock, Arkansas) Effective New Year's Day, a new law bans the sale of realistic-looking toy guns in the state of Arkansas. The law was prompted by the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy, DeAunta Farrow, in 2007. The boy had waved a toy gun at the police.

Toy guns now being sold in Arkansas must be painted different colors and display an orange tip on the barrel. Arkansas stores found to be selling realistic-looking toy guns can be fined up to $1,000 per violation.

Exempted from the new law are guns used in theater productions, war reenactments and sporting events.

Another regulation effective on New Year's Day is the requirement that all cigarettes sold in Arkansas be self-extinguishing. It's believed that the law only applies to tobacco and it's not clear whether cigars and pipe tobacco are included. Presumably, marijuana cigarettes are exempt from the requirement.