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The Minnesota Court of Appeals held up a statute that defines BB guns as firearms when it comes to prohibited persons. The decision comes as bad news for defendant David Lee Haywood, 37, who was found guilty of possessing a firearm and now faces a five-year sentence. Police searched Haywoods car after discovering that he was in violation of a no-contact order with a passenger during a 2013 traffic stop. A compact air pistol was found in his glove compartment. Haywood was previously convicted of felony drug possession and was therefore not allowed to own any firearms or airguns in...

Instead of making flying sounds, a children's toy plane's sound effect was an Islamic prayer, according to the president of the Islamic Society of Whatcom County. It's an issue several WolVol customers have complained about onAmazon. The toy was a Christmas present given to a Whatcom County 3-year-old. "We put the batteries in and didn't get what we expected," said Bjorn Thorpe, the boy's uncle. "I do respect other religions, but it's not the right situation to have it on a children's toy." "This is a prayer you're supposed to say when you're performing Hajj," said Nadeem Israr, president of...

Blast from the past a rare early 60's tv commercial for Mattel's Tommy Burst submachine gun detective set. Maybe somebody still have this hidden in their attic. The detective set comes with the Tommy submachine gun, shoulder holster, snub-nose 38 and an ID badge. Go here to see this classic commercial from Mattel.

Growing up in a quiet Jewish neighborhood of the Bronx, I was about as far removed as could be from the gun culture. But as a five or six year old, I would beg my parents to take me to visit the toy store a few blocks away so that I could gaze longingly in the window . . . at a toy six-shooter. I share my story because I think it's typical. Of course there are exceptions, but from time immemorial the great majority of little boys have been drawn to toy weapons while little girls have largely been...

A Virginia mother who ordered a toy sword for her son's seventh birthday got more than she bargained for when she discovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition inside the Toys R Us package. [I] didn't know what to do! I was just completely in shock,’ recalled Yasemin Stephenson in an interview with 13NewsNow. ‘What if my son had opened the box?’ Stephenson, who lives in Virginia Beach and works in the health care field, went on Toys R Us’ website last week to order presents for her son Connor’s upcoming birthday, including a Minecraft Foam Diamond Sword. The popular toy...

Target to customers: Our toy aisle is now gender-neutral Target is ditching boys' and girls' labels on toys after the store says customers were raising concerns about unnecessary gender-based signs. In an statement posted to their website on Friday, Target announced they were moving away from gendered signs in stores. "Over the past year, guests have raised important questions about a handful of signs in our stores that offer suggestions based on gender," the posting read. Molly Snyder, a spokeswoman for Target, told NBC News the ways that people shop are continually evolving and changing. "We tried to look at...

The St. Paul Police Department SWAT Team Commander, Tim Flynn, says the military weapons they use only come out when they face high-risk, dangerous situations. "These weapons are critical to protecting the safety of the public and police officers," Flynn said. The SPPD has 99 AR-15 rifles on loan from the federal government, and they did receive a federal grant to obtain an armored vehicle used in potentially violent cases such as last year's arrest of cop killer, Brian Fitch. In October we reported on how four police departments returned military issued equipment obtained at no cost through a government...

Does a book that shows kids how to make homemade guns belong in a science museum gift shop? One gun control advocate says such a book has no place at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, where Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction 2: Build a Secret Agent Arsenal is currently available for purchase

Iraq uncovers al-Qaeda 'chemical weapons plot' The authorities in Iraq say they have uncovered an al-Qaeda plot to use chemical weapons, as well as to smuggle them to Europe and North America. Defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said five men had been arrested after military intelligence monitored their activities for three months. Three workshops for manufacturing the chemical agents, including sarin and mustard gas, were uncovered, he added. Remote-controlled toy planes were also seized at the workshops. Mr Askari said they were to have been used to release the chemical agents over the target from a "safe" distance of 1.5km...

Attention Target shoppers, check out the display of bondage gear in aisle 12! The nation’s second biggest general merchandise retailer is raising shoppers’ eyebrows – and possibly their wrists above their heads – by carrying a line of Fifty Shades of Grey sex gear. Items from “The Official Pleasure Collection” include the Fifty Shades Yours and Mine Vibrating Silicone Love Ring (“the silicone ring stretches to accommodate his girth,” the description assures) and the No Peeking Soft Twin Blindfold Set (“take it in turns to sink into submission”).

Look at this simple structure electric train made of just magnet,copper wire and a dry cell. Just a cool, inexpensive scientific effect that might be fun to play with.

What is it about toy trains that has continued to entertain children, admittedly mostly boys, for nearly two centuries? A major new exhibition is about to find out. They ran to your own personal timetable. Engineering work at weekends was rare. And there were never leaves on the line, just the occasional bit of fluff from the living room carpet. For decades, toy trains have enthralled generations of youngsters - and this coming March the National Railway Museum, in York, looks into why children love them so much, in its exhibition Playing Trains.

The story of millions of Lego pieces washing up on beaches attracted huge interest when first told by the Magazine. The list of places where the toys have been spotted is still growing. Beachcomber Tracey Williams has been picking up Lego along the Cornish coastline ever since a container spill dumped millions of the toy pieces into the sea in 1997. Since the curious tale was reported by the Magazine, dozens of people have contacted Williams to say they, too, have found parts of the much-loved toy scattered on shores. Snip Most of the people who've contacted her found Lego...

Parents took to social media to share images of the tool, called the extruder, which came as part of Play-Doh’s Sweet Shoppe Cake Mountain play set and which parents agree shares a strong resemblance to a male’s private parts.

Feminists in France say they have secretly inserted tracts inside children's toys from Barbie dolls to plastic guns issuing a warning that "this toy is sexist". Hundreds of French girls and boys will open Christmas presents at the foot of the tree to find an unexpected accompanying note resembling those found in Chinese "fortune cookies". Except in this case, the message will neither provide instructions nor predict the future. It will read: "Warning, this toy is sexist:" The operation was launched by feminist group FièrEs, which said that it had inserted "around 500" such tracts into a range of toys...

In 2013 Mattel brought Barbie back to the Chinese market. Only this time instead of clothes by Oscar De La Renta she had a violin and you could buy Barbie for the much more affordable price of $13 (£8.20). This year there was another launch - a "specialty" Barbie doll in the likeness of Chinese actress Fan Bingbing. Heralding the launch of the doll Mattel declared: "[Fan Bingbing's] collaboration with Barbie will give purpose and meaning to play and help ignite the spark inside girls across China to 'Shine Your Way'." So it's clear that Barbie has learnt that to...

Toys Я Us is pulling its four collectible dolls based on characters from AMC’s hit series “Breaking Bad” after taking heat from a Florida mom who launched a petition campaign last week. The dolls are based on the series about Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who turns into a crystal meth dealer, and his sidekick Jesse Pinkman. The figures have a detachable bag of cash and a bag of methamphetamines.Toys Я Us, which is based in Wayne, New Jersey, told The Associated Press late Tuesday that the dolls are being removed immediately from its website and shelves. …

Ebola plush toys fly off the shelf for Connecticut company It may be the only time you will find these words in the same sentence: "Ebola" and "Add to Wishlist." Giantmicrobes Inc., which makes a line of plush toys based on viruses and other microscopic organisms, has sold out its entire Ebola stock, including the small Ebola doll for $9.95, a Gigantic Ebola doll for $29.95 and an Ebola Petri Dish toy for $14.95, according to the company's website. "Since its discovery in 1976, Ebola has become the T. Rex of microbes," says the Stamford, Connecticut-based maker of the "uniquely...

Parents aren't happy that the toy store chain is selling drug dealer dolls, complete with bags of crystal meth and sacks of cash. Susan Schrivjer, a mom from Fort Myers, Fla., was a fan of the award-winning AMC show Breaking Bad.... Even so, she thinks it’s not such a great idea to sell action figures based on the show’s notorious crystal meth dealers Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in a store where the customer base is families with young children.

This is not intended as an advertisement or an endorsement of a product. A Harriet Carter catalog arrived today and this picture was on the front cover. I simply thought it captured a typical feline attitude, one of superiority and self-indulgent pleasure.