Toy Gun Company to Pay $1.1 Million Civil Fine

By Grant Law Office on October 28, 2011

Henry Gordy is set to pay a civil fine of $1,100,000 to resolve accusations that the firm knew about dangerous defects in its toy gun kit “Auto Fire Target Set” but failed to report them to the public, according to a release by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The toy in question was allegedly involved in the fatalities of four children, said the CPSC.

The commission claimed that representatives from the company were aware of at least one fatality tied to the toy gun set around May of 2006. After that first reported accident, the company changed the product’s design that summer and included a new cautionary statement on the toy that read: “parental supervision suggested,” according to a listing in the U.S. Federal Register. However, an official recall wasn’t issued until approximately four years later in May of 2010 when around 1.8 million product units were recalled by the CPSC due to a lack of compliance by the company. By the time of the recall, there had been three deaths associated with the product. The CPSC claims the small, malleable plastic darts in the “Auto Fire Target” pose a serious choking hazard to children when chewed or inhaled.

Family Dollar sold the toys during September 2005 to January 2009 for around $1.50 a piece. The products were made in China. Henry Gordy is listed as based in Plainfield, New Jersey, but is currently operating under the subsidiary umbrella of EXX, Inc. of Las Vegas, Nevada. Has your child been injured by a dangerous or defective toy? Contact the Atlanta product liability lawyers with the Law Offices of Wayne Grant, P.C. at (404) 995-3955 for a free case review today.