The Senate recently passed a plastic firearms bill that included a toy-gun amendment offered by Bob Dole, Republican of Kansas. The provision, to supercede state and local ordinances, would require all toy guns to have orange markings and barrel plugs.

Two weeks ago, Representative Mel Levine, Democrat of California, introduced legislation that would ban the sale of realistic toy guns, defined as substantially similar in size and shape to guns manufactured after 1898.

''I understand this is a controversial bill, and that it is very far-reaching,'' Mr. Levine said. ''But all I am seeking is what other jurisdictions are already doing, and I think in the long run manufacturers will be better served by a Federal standard.''

The Toy Manufacturers of America, a trade group with headquarters in New York, supports Mr. Dole's provision, but asserts that Mr. Levine's bill goes too far. Jeffrey Locker, a lawyer with the New York firm of Locker, Greenberg & Brainin, the association's general counsel, said it is ''ridiculous to ban toy guns while real guns are being sold.''

The industry, with retail sales of about $106 million last year, has taken steps to regulate itself.