when it comes to the sale of realistic looking imitation or toy weapons.

Human Affairs Minister the Hon. Jerome Dill made the call yesterday in the wake of an attempted robbery on Monday by a man using a toy gun.

A 32-year-old Mount Hill, Pembroke man was confronted by the assailant as he arrived home at 11 p.m. on Monday, Police said.

The victim, who was approaching his apartment door, struggled, and the culprit eventually fled, dropping the toy gun. The victim was unharmed, and nothing was stolen.

Mr. Dill said he was concerned, especially in the past few years about the increase in crimes involving handguns.

"Ten years ago it may have been possible to sell these realistic looking handguns to people,'' he said. "But it is different now.'' Stopping short of calling for a ban on such toys, he suggested that distributors make a judgment call on whether to sell the imitations.

An informal survey conducted by The Royal Gazette found several Hamilton stores carried a variety of water guns and military style toy weapons.

But it seemed unlikely that any could be mistaken for real guns during the daytime.

Mr. Laurion McGehee, vice president of the Phoenix Stores which owns the Annex on Reid Street, said he was worried about the problem.

"It's a concern we have had for years now,'' he said. "Some American toy manufacturers have placed a bright orange piece in the barrel that identifies the gun as a toy.

"If it is removed, then the gun is rendered useless. We are wary of any toy guns that look too real, and we do not stock them.'' A manager at Jack and Jill's said her store had a variety of cap guns which were not realistic looking and she did not buy any toy gun that could pass for real.

"That has always been our policy,'' she said.

An article in the December 1994 edition of Stores magazine outlined how Kay Bee Toy stores of Pittsfield, Massachusetts and US chain Toys "R'' Us said in October they would stop buying "lookalike'' toy guns.