Hey, you never know when you may need to gouge out someone's eye.

Scenario: You're on a plane from Dallas to Denver. You couldn't bring your carry piece, because the clowns who run the TSA think civilians aren't qualified to safely discharge firearms in the air. Knives, too, are also banned.

But luckily you have your tactical pen. It's a perfectly legal tool for close-quarter combat in the middle of a flight. It's just a pen, after all. But it's also sturdy as hell, and bears a pointy end that's perfect for damaging soft human tissue. It could be all you need to stop a terrorist. Or that guy who looks like a terrorist, but turns out to be benign. But better safe than sorry, right?

When searching for the world's most badass pen to help celebrate Gadget Lab's Month of Badass Gadgets, we checked out a few models but eventually landed on the pen you see here made by Smith & Wesson. Did you catch that? It's made by Smith & Wesson. Let's repeat: It's a pen made by Smith & Wesson. And it's branded as such right on the pocket clip.

The pen's 5.7-inch shell is machined from hard-anodized aluminum, and features grippy indentations for a confidence-inspiring clutch. The cap screws and unscrews with precision threading. The pen accepts common Parker and Hauser ink cartridges, and while the cartridge tips might look sharp, we don't recommend using them in a defensive posture. The pen's nasty aluminum tip (shown below) is your tactical defense tool, and that's where your attention should be focused.

So is it a pen, or is it a weapon? It's a pen, of course!

Or is it? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

That's the beauty of tactical pens. They're fully functioning ink pens, but also so full of badass, you can convince yourself you're carrying violence in an aluminum cartridge.

Interested in more badass gadgets? Check out our previous entry, the PRI-MAX Industrial Shredder.