WASHINGTON — The FBI is warning that terrorists could potentially use pens filled with cartridges of poison as weapons, according to an FBI bulletin obtained by Fox News.

A pen gun (search) is a small-caliber, single shot weapon that resembles a fountain pen.

In its weekly bulletin to law enforcement agencies throughout the country, the FBI said that bullet cavities of pen guns could be filled with poisonous chemicals or biological toxins, including cyanide

I used to see those weekly bulletins. There are alot of sharpies out there, with lots of time on their hands and good dose of old fashioned ingenuity. You should see what a motivated inmate can turn into a weapon. You could easily modify a mini-mag lite into a pretty nasty little weapon.
Knife, pen gun, explosive device, chemical cannister......you name it.

Now the ticket agent probably is not aware of that. Somewhere along the line someone told him/her that it can be a potentially dangerous item. A trained professional could figure out that it is harmless quickly, and you are only out the 15 seconds it took for the pro to look at it.
Instead you get 3 non-trained square badge cop wanna-bees either a)scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do or b)thinking its a "Cops" episode (cue "Bad Boys" here)ready to take you down.

And BTW, Senor Pasternack, if I was the agent checking YOU in, you would be lucky to get away with just a mag lite inspection. I'd be calling for the 300lb guy with those big-ole latex gloves for a REAL inspection....up close and personal!