'Please check you don't have a firearm in your carry-on'

Arizona has permitless carry and honours concealed carry permits from other states

The tree-like saguaro cactus, whose blossom is the state wildflower of Arizona, is very representative of the state but it could just as easily be the gun. The saguaro is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains and some areas of California. Photo: Rashmee Roshan Lall

The day before the first anniversary of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas — the deadliest of its kind since the one at Sandy Hook a decade prior — I sat in Phoenix Sky Harbour airport and heard the following announcement over and over: “Please check you don’t have a firearm, knife or weapon in your carry-on.”

Or words to that effect.

It was a rude reminder of where I was. In Phoenix, which boasts it has “America’s friendliest airport”, but also in a state that has permitless carry. That’s to say any person who is at least 18 years old and can legally possess a firearm may open carry. In Arizona, anyone at least 21 years old may concealed carry a firearm without a per…