WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration is on the lookout for small, inexpensive, two-shot pistols that have gone undetected through metal detectors at airports in Greece and Australia, and have also turned up in Britain.

None of the guns -- which masquerade as a key chain and cost $20 -- have been spotted in the United States. An FAA spokeswoman said that "appropriate security measures (are) in place and everyone is aware of this weapon."

The three-inch long, one-inch wide (7.6-centimeter long, 2.5-centimeter wide) gun is apparently made in Bulgaria and is "readily available" in southern Europe, according to the international police agency Interpol.

U.S. Representative Carolyn McCarthy, D-New York, told a Capitol Hill press conference about children killed by guns that she was concerned about the micro-pistols and their potential use as a terrorist weapon.

"I fly planes constantly now and obviously it's a dangerous product," she said.

The pistols were first found in Perth, Australia, and Athens, Greece, last September, the New York Times reported, but the FAA just learned of their existence this year. A four-page booklet, written in Bulgarian, was found with the gun in Perth. The booklet describes the weapon as an "OSA double-loader gas-signaling device for self-defence," according to an Australian government translation.

The gun is apparently intended to fire gas cartridges, but can fire .32-caliber bullets. It is cocked by pulling on the ring and fired with the push of a button. Experts say it would be deadly from as far as 20 yards (18 meters) away.

The gun does show up on X-ray scans, but its simple shape makes it difficult to identify. According to Interpol, the gun is unlikely to set off an alarm unless a metal detector is set to high sensitivity.

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• Federal Aviation Administration
• Interpol

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