"'I'm thinking of doing this. What do you think?'" the Valley man asked. "And they were like, 'Do you think you'll be arrested?' And we said, 'No, I don't think that's very probable.'"

Steinmetz said he was at the airport openly carrying his rifle to make a point about liberty. In doing so, he said he put his constitutional civil liberties on display for everyone.

"I don't think the irrational fears of others have some sort of precedence over what we're allowed to do," Steinmetz said. 

It did on that day, though. Steinmetz said he walked around the terminal for 10 to 15 minutes before being noticed by police.

"I actually never pointed that gun at anyone. I was very conscientious in my handling of the weapon to make sure it was never pointed in anyone's direction," Steinmetz said.
 

Police officials said otherwise. They accused Steinmetz of pointing his weapon at a mother and her teenage daughter. He was arrested and booked into the Maricopa County Jail.