New York - Law Enforcement Agencies to Beware of Tiny Six-Shooter

New York - Police and other law enforcement agencies have been told to be on the lookout for two new gadgets, a tiny gun that looks like a key chain trinket and easily could be smuggled onto a plane, and a plastic handcuff key that looks like a pendant.

The 2 1/2-inch-long factory-produced gun can be tossed, along with keys and cell phone, for instance, into a plastic basket before passing through an airport metal detector. The gun has not been found in New York City yet, authorities said. "It looks like it could be used as part of a key chain," says Joe Green, spokesman for the New York office of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The six-shot revolver is manufactured by a Switzerland company that bills the tiny gun as the smallest revolver and ammunition in the world, complete with 2.34-mm bullets.
The gun sells for about $5,000, but company chief executive Paul Erard has said most buyers choose the $30,000 model encrusted with gold and diamonds.