New York has taken steps to keep imitation toy guns out of the hands of children.

The state has reached settlement agreements with 30 online retailers from across the country that sold illegal toy guns to consumers in the North Country and around New York.

The announcement follows a related investigation of major retailers this summer that included Walmart, Kmart, Amazon.com, and Sears. Those retailers paid over $309,000 to settle the investigation and agreed to comply with applicable state laws.

No figures for St. Lawrence County were available but Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s announcement noted that nine of the toy guns were sold to people in Watertown and 11 in Plattsburgh, compared with 1,337 in New York City, according to the investigation.

The toy guns in question violate a state law that prohibits the sale of imitation weapons, which are toy guns that look too much like real guns.

“When toy guns are mistaken for real guns, there can be tragic consequences,” said Schneiderman.

New York State law prohibits the sale of imitation weapons that closely resemble real guns, Schneiderman said.

Under the terms of the agreements, these online retailers are required to sell only toys that are colored entirely white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, bright pink or bright purple or a combination of these colors.