DLNews Law-Enforcement:

Walmart settled a case over allegations of illegally selling brass knuckles to California consumers. They agreed to pay $500,000 and take measures to prevent illegal weapons sales on their website. California DOJ and district attorneys of Merced, Ventura, and Yolo Counties conducted the investigation.

“Illegal weapons have no place in California. The settlement we have reached with Walmart makes crystal clear that online retailers are responsible for what they allow to be offered for sale in our state,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “I’d like to thank the legal team from our Consumer Protection Section and Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, and Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko for their partnership.”

District Attorneys from Merced, Ventura, and Yolo Counties are concerned about selling illegal brass knuckles online. They urge online retailers to prioritize safety over profits. Walmart has taken action following an investigation, and the DAs are confident that future sales will be prevented. Retailers need to review their practices and ensure compliance with California law. Walmart's efforts to address the issue have been proactive, and the DAs are optimistic about their impact.

Walmart’s website, Walmart.com, allows retailers to sell products directly to consumers and serves as an e-commerce platform for third-party sellers. The Attorney General’s complaint alleges that approximately 250 products that may be classified as brass knuckles were sold through Walmart’s website. The complaint further alleges that about 60% of those brass knuckles were sold directly by Walmart and the remaining 40% by third-party sellers. 

Under the settlement, Walmart will: 

• Pay $125,000 to DOJ as well as each of the three district attorneys’ Offices — for a total of $500,000 — in civil penalties and costs;
• Be prohibited from selling brass knuckles on its website;
• Be required to prohibit third-party sellers from offering or exposing for sale or selling illegal weapons on its platform;
• Be required to implement and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent sales of illicit armaments by third-party sellers;
• Be required to provide a mechanism on each product page to allow customers to report the offering or exposing for sale or sale of unlawful weapons to California;
• Be required to take reasonable steps to identify California consumers who have purchased illicit weapons from Walmart and send a notice to those consumers notifying them that the item may be illegal and that they may contact their local law enforcement agency for information on how to surrender the thing properly; and
• Provide compliance reports for five years, semi-annually for the first year, and annually thereafter.

Under California law, brass knuckles are classified as a deadly weapon. Therefore, offering or exposing brass knuckles for sale violates Penal Code section 21810 and is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year. In addition, the offering or exposing for sale of metal knuckles and other dangerous weapons in violation of applicable Penal Code sections violates the unlawful prong of the Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code sections 17200.

A copy of the complaint and proposed judgment, which details the settlement above terms and remains subject to court approval, can be found here and here.