Jim Walsh

The Republic | azcentral.com

A medical researcher didn't hurt anyone when he carried an AR-15 rifle into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport last week, but he certainly ignited a debate.

Gun rights advocate Alan Korwin said Peter Nathan Steinmetz was perfectly within his rights to bring the rifle into the public section of the airport: only the area behind the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint is a "gun free zone.''

Phoenix Police Sgt. Steve Martos doesn't disagree, but he said visitors to the airport have to apply common sense when deciding whether to bring such a weapon along.

Police said a woman and her 17-year-old daughter reported fearing for their safety when Steinmetz removed his AR-15 from his shoulder with the muzzle facing towards them in a waiting area.

"He screwed up on Friday,'' Martos said. "It was reckless.''

"We understand that people have that right-but you should use some common sense when exercising your rights,'' he said.

Steinmetz was arrested by police on two counts of disorderly conduct for displaying a deadly weapon. A woman at his Tempe home said he has been advised by an attorney not to discuss the case.

But Korwin said it is obvious that Steinmetz was making a valuable political statement, and a dramatic one at that.

"He didn't do anything illegal. I thought he did it to make a point,'' Korwin said.

Outside the sterile "true gun free zone '' beyond the TSA checkpoint, Steinmetz had the same rights as anyone walking down Central Avenue in Phoenix to keep and bear arms, Korwin said. It is his right as a U.S. citizen to make a choice of whether to arm himself with the weapon.

"If you have a right, and you can't exercise it, you don't really have the right,'' Korwin said. "It makes the point more clearly. It gets you on the phone to me.''

It was not the first time that Steinmetz, 54, a director at the Barrow Neurological Institute, brought his rifle to Sky Harbor. He did it previously on Nov. 13, when he and his minor son went to Terminal 4 armed to pick up the elder Steinmetz's wife.

When police spoke to Peter Steinmetz on that occasion, he was polite to officers and explained that he had taken several gun classes, including carrying a concealed weapon.

Steinmetz was not booked in the November incident, but the circumstances were different on Friday, Martos said.

Police said that, in Friday's incident, Steinmetz was first observed buying a cup of coffee in Terminal 4 with the gun slung over his shoulder. They said Steinmetz walked to the eastern end of the third-level lobby and stopped in front of the B gates.

When confronted, Steinmetz told officers that he went to the airport only to buy a cup of coffee and had no other business there, police said.

Steinmetz is director of the neuroengineering program at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, according to Barrow's website. Steinmetz is doing memory research on epilespsy patients, among other projects.

Carmelle Malkovich, a spokeswoman for St. Joseph's, said Steinmetz is a medical doctor and also has a PhD. She said his role is working as a basic scientist in a research laboratory, and he does not treat patients.

"We are aware of the situation and are taking it very seriously," a statement from St. Joseph's said. "At present, this issue is being handled by Human Resources and our policy is not to comment."

Korwin said there are other people in the public portion of the airport who "discreetly'' carry firearms without making a dramatic statement such as Steinmetz.

He said anyone who would criticize Steinmetz, or others who choose to arm themselves, should think about what would happen if terrorists struck at at Sky Harbor, or if criminals decided to commit a crime there.

"If the Jihad were to start at this airport, you would be very happy he was there," Korwin said.