I’ve been to Arizona only once.  A four hour stopover in Phoenix, two hours in the city and two hours in Sky Harbor International Airport. When I landed at the airport, it initially looked much like any other: shiny floors, metallic roof and lots of glass.

Cowboy country

Then I realized the music I could hear was Dolly Parton, and the men with the big hats were cowboys. They drifted past me on the walkway and swaggered towards the check-in gates as if they were on their way to a saloon. Nobody looked at them because they were everywhere.

Like most men, I was once very much into the cowboy ethos. The lone rider, fighting for good in an unforgiving world, appeals to a little kid.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. Arizona is real cowboy country. It has cowboy singers, cowboy colleges, a cowboy brewery and even a special cowboy day.

America the immature

Like most men, I was once very much into the cowboy ethos. The lone rider, fighting for good in an unforgiving world, appeals to a little kid. Despite the fact that this is a pure Hollywood invention, it’s no surprise that America has embraced it as part of its culture. (All you need do is look at the last Connecticut-born president and how he branded himself as a ten-gallon hat wearing, drawling cowboy). However, unlike many of our American friends, I moved on.

Nonetheless, I was intrigued by those real life cowboys in Arizona and promised myself that,  one day, I’d return. Now, I’m not so sure.

The rule of the brawl

Every country creates their own myths, but what’s always unnerved me about popular cowboy culture is the way it glamorizes violence, from bar brawls to shootouts. This goes some way to explaining America’s obsession with firearms and Arizona’s “open carry” law. This piece of legislation permits anyone legally allowed to own a gun, which is pretty much everyone over 18, to carry it around in public so long as it’s visible.

Machine gun totting protesters

This  might be a throwback to the frontier days – Arizona was only admitted to the Union in 1912 – but what it means today was vividly demonstrated when Barack Obama visited town this week. A crowd of his supporters gathered outside the convention centre where he was speaking, only to be infiltrated by a dozen anti-Obama libertarians carrying guns. One of them even had an assault rifle slung over his shoulder.

This man was riled up about apparent threats to the constitution and wanted to demonstrate his right to bear arms. As you’d expect, a police officer kept a close eye on him, but it wasn’t to stop him gunning down the crowd; it was to protect him from placard-waving Obama supporters.

The wilder West

Now, call me old Mr. cowardly chops, but a place where the police protects people who parade around with machine guns makes me nervous. Arizona is also one of the few American states where you can carry a gun into a bar or restaurant. The west, it seems, is as wild as ever.

But don’t despair.

If you’d prefer to have your cowboy experience without all the hardware, there are other options. In fact, you don’t even have to go to North America. In the UK, there’s the Wild West Theme Park, Malacca, Malaysia, has its own Cowboy Town, and even the Canary Islands has the Sioux City theme park.

Okay, it maybe not be the authentic experience, but there won’t be any machine gun totting pardners strolling around. And I for one say yee haa to that.