Welcoming the man with the AR-15 rifle at Terminal 4

The last time Peter Steinmetz brought a rifle to Sky Harbor International Airport he also brought along his son.

We should be glad he came back.

Back in November Steinmetz's visit caused quite a little stir, which may or may not have been Steinmetz's intention. When I asked Phoenix Police about it I received this e-mail from spokesman Sgt. Trent Crump:

"On November 3, 2013 at approximately 4:30 PM, a Phoenix police officer patrolling Terminal 3 on foot was advised of a subject with a rifle slung over his shoulder in a public area of the terminal. Contact was made with the subject, who was accompanied by his 12-year-old son who had a handgun holstered on his hip. The subject advised investigating officers that he was waiting to pick up an arriving passenger and was armed out of a fear for his safety and that of his family. Phoenix officers closely monitored the actions of these individuals during their time at the airport and remained with them until their passenger arrived and they left the airport grounds."

Steinmetz and the boy were questioned by security officials and police but were not detained or arrested.

The mere presence of the weapons did not violate Arizona law.

We didn't talk much about the natural follow-up question: Should it?

So now Steinmetz is back, only this time he was arrested for disorderly conduct.

The charges came after police say Steinmetz removed the AR-15 from his shoulder and the muzzle faced in the direction of a woman and her daughter in a waiting area of Terminal 4. The woman and her daughter said they feared for their safety.

People feared for their safety back in November, but Steinmetz kept the rifle slung over his shoulder while his son wore a holstered a semi-automatic handgun.

I heard about that incident from a woman named Peggy Farmer, who was in the terminal waiting for her husband to arrive on a flight.

According the Peggy, the armed man and boy "attracted first two, then about six airport security personnel. They engaged the pair in conversation on a couple of occasions, probably to assess who they were dealing with and to keep the atmosphere from deteriorating. The group of six security officers then gathered about ten feet away for the duration of their presence until the woman they were waiting for arrived."

That was that.

Steinmetz is a director at the Barrow Neurological Institute. Staging incidents like this has become a trend with some gun enthusiasts. We've seen media reports of armed men in department stores, restaurants, etc.

But the airport?

In that sense, Steinmetz might be doing us a favor, forcing us to contemplate just how far we're willing to go along with America's gun culture. Do we have a Second Amendment right to frighten people at the airport?

Back in November, Peggy Farmer recalled how she and her husband were talking about the gun incident while waiting in the baggage claim. She said their conversation was interrupted by an announcement over the airport's public address system. Visitors to Sky Harbor were reminded that smoking is not permitted in the airport.

"I noted the irony," Peggy said.