Originally Posted by Markie
At the end of the process, I was asked to provide my home address. I asked him why and he could not provide an explanation, except that he had a place on the form for it. At that point the TAS supervisor informed me that if I continued to refuse he would 'keep me here all day and miss your flight'. He then refused to give me a copy of the report, which was incorrectly titled 'Image of Pistol on Screen', when they already established that I had not packed a pistol.
Now I have not had this type of hassle with the TSA before and have logged a complaint call as I believe that they did not follow their own procedures.
You should definately complain and (if you are paranoid) consider preemptive action such as a lawyer if a document with your address went out with the title "Image of Pistol on Screen." You could soon find yourself in posession of a large fine or criminal arrest warrant for attempting to smuggle a "pistol" through an airport. That might have been worth missing your flight.
I understand (and to some degree support) the requirment that something that looks like a gun/bomb be examined by a LEO, but I feel it should be done quickly, efficiently, and without taking your ID away (which is a universal sign of detention) or bags out of your sight. I also wonder if they could do something like show you the x-ray image and say "sir/mam do you know what this image might be?" and then go about doing a normal search of the bag when you laugh and show them the outline of luggage tags. But I'm sure TSA sees a lot of weird crap, and if it's safer for LEOs to check it, fine by me as long as it's done in a reasonable and respectful manner.
From what I read, my big complaints would be 1) bags out of sight, 2) demanding home address without providing a valid explanation under requirements of privacy act (DFW is notorious for this problem though) 3) filing a report with a misleading/accusatory title, 4) refusing to give you a copy of the report. The FSD of DFW should be able to resolve (3) and (4) for you, and if he doesn't you should contact either or both of a lawyer and your congressman.