Starting up a new toy shop online, and was curious what UK import regulations were on things like dart guns and other toy weapons, replicas, etc

Regulations re: toy guns of any kind fall under safety issues, and insuring that toy guns can’t be mistaken for real weapons. Go to the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) website for a pdf on the specifics on toy guns (best to use Firefox, Chrome doesn’t like loading the link to the PDF for some reason). It breaks down to the following--

● Under the Violent Crime Reduction Act, the manufacture, import or sale of realistic imitation weapons is prohibited, as is the sale of even unrealistic weapons (Cyberman guns, anyone?) to anyone under 18. The possession of a realistic replica or imitation weapon in a public place is especially frowned upon, and subject to high sentences.

● Toy weapons must be clearly marked, brightly coloured (bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink or bright purple), made from a transparent material, be smaller (under 38mm high by 70mm long). Rayguns and the like are obviously sufficiently distinguishable from real guns that most of the above requirements don’t apply.

A lot of this legislation came about as a result of the Hungerford Massacre in 1987 and, and the Dunblane Massacre in 1996. Both involved a multiple murder culminating with the suicide of the gunman. The guns used in both attacks were legally licensed to the perpetrators, which led to closer legislation on handguns, shotguns, rifles, and the licencing of firearms in general to persons of diminished mental capacity. In general, the replica gun legislation is a result of the ongoing difficulties in Northern Ireland and the “popularity” of using replicas in armed robbery and other crimes.

You can check out the HMRC about toys-- regulations really only apply if large mechanical toys are involved (since it’s mostly concerned with “wasting” assets, that is, assets with a life expectancy under 50 years). This really does not apply to the toy weapons you are talking about. I think it’s mostly referring to complicated mechanical toys that will tend to “break down” over time and heavy use.

As far as the darts in the dart guns are concerned, so long as they adhere to general safety requirements-- proper age labeling, small parts that don’t easily come off, etc-- you should be in the clear. In general, just make sure that toy guns are obviously toys, and that all the parts are safe for kids.

Know anything about how serious this control is? Anything in the news or something about someone actually getting busted on this sort of thing?

There’s a cautionary tale there. The story of one Mr. Ian Ford of The Gardens, Norton. Ford sold toy dart guns and bows where the suction cups came off easily and posed a choke hazard in the target audience. 5,000 toys were seized, and Ford was fined �10,000 in total. Yes, they’re serious about this stuff.