I hope this is just a disturbingly incompetent TSO. I travel with a Surefire metal flashlight with a clearly scalloped forward edge. In 2 years, I have never been questioned about it, but if I am, my response will be one of two things:

1) Where on the TSA's list of prohibited items is "flashlight" listed?
2) The scalloped leading edge is actually a means of standing the flashlight up to only show a little light through the gaps.

If they're dumb enough to ask, I hope they're dumb enough to believe the second one.