Section 870. Legislative intent

The legislature finds and declares that
  there exists an unreasonable risk of injury and  death  associated  with
  the  sale  of  toy  weapons  which  are  replica of and cannot be easily
  distinguished from actual weapons; that in recent  years  the  sale  and
  possession  of  these  imitation  weapons  has  grown;  that in nineteen
  hundred eighty-seven, more than fourteen hundred toy  imitation  weapons
  involved  in  criminal  incidents  were confiscated by the police in New
  York city alone, nearly eighty percent more  than  four  years  earlier;
  that  when  such  imitation weapons are perceived as actual weapons fear
  and dangerous defensive actions often result.  The  legislature  further
  finds  and declares that the purpose of this article is to safeguard the
  public from the unreasonable risk of death and injury  that  may  result
  when   imitation   weapons   are  perceived  as  real,  by  banning  the
  importation,  manufacture,  distribution  and  sale  of  such  imitation
  weapons.