The Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. - Wal-Mart suspended sales of toy guns in its New York stores on Thursday after the state sued, accusing the retailer of selling toys that lack required safety markings to distinguish them from real guns.

The toy guns have orange caps on their barrels, as required by federal law, but they don't have nonremoveable orange stripes down the barrel's length as New York law requires, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's lawsuit contends. Safety experts say brightly colored markings help police officers distinguish toy guns from real ones, and that permanent stripes are important because the plastic barrel caps can fall off or be removed.

The lawsuit, filed March 31 in state court in Manhattan, seeks to prohibit Wal-Mart from selling toy weapons that violate state law and asks for monetary penalties. It also alleges that Wal-Mart sold toy guns colored aluminum and black, which may be mistaken for actual firearms.