Uber Says Drivers and Passengers Banned From Carrying Guns

[Ahlevah]

So a couple of months ago an Uber driver with a concealed carry permit shoots someone who is firing a weapon at pedestrians in Chicago. What's Uber's response? Ban guns possessed by anyone--drivers or passengers--everywhere:

Uber Technologies says it is banning firearms of any kind during rides arranged through the Uber platform, and drivers or riders who violate the rule may lose access to the platform. The rules also apply to Uber’s affiliates.


Uber Banning Drivers & Passengers From Carrying Guns On All Rides « CBS San Francisco

It would be interesting to see what would happen in my state (Mississippi) for a passenger with an enhanced concealed carry permit who enters an Uber vehicle:

In Mississippi, permit holders that complete the training course and receive an endorsement can bring their handguns everywhere except for police stations, jails, courtrooms and federal property regardless of gun free zone signs.


Governor Bryant signs new concealed carry bill | WREG.com

I can see this hitting the courts.

 

[reinoe]

And Mississippi should lose. Don't like a business that bans guns? Don't patronize that private establishment. I believe in the 2nd amendment, but that MS law goes too far. This bill sounds like it bans people from forbidding guns in their private homes.

At the end of the day it's a MS concern and not mine.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

I would just disobey the rule. If I ever had to draw my weapon it would mean that I was dealing with a situation much more dire than the possibility of losing my job.

 

[Ahlevah]

And Mississippi should lose. Don't like a business that bans guns? Don't patronize that private establishment. I believe in the 2nd amendment, but that MS law goes too far. This bill sounds like it bans people from forbidding guns in their private homes.

At the end of the day it's a MS concern and not mine.

Well, in Mississippi a person's personal automobile is considered an extension of his home. Meanwhile, Uber maintains that its drivers are not employees but independent contractors. So if you're going to argue that the law is attempting to ban people from forbidding guns in their private homes (or their extensions), then what you're really saying is Uber can't forbid its drivers from possessing guns in their personal automobiles. You can't have it both ways. It would be like Tupperware telling its hosts to get rid of the guns in the bedroom lock boxes before hosting parties in their personal residences.

 

[Kreton]

I don't agree with thier decision entirely but I support thier right to make the decision. A business should have the right to ban guns of they wish.

 

[Ahlevah]

I don't agree with thier decision entirely but I support thier right to make the decision. A business should have the right to ban guns of they wish.

I think Uber should have left it well enough alone. Besides the legal points already mentioned, it's another nail in their argument that their drivers are not employees. Also, they might as well post a sign on every Uber vehicle that reads, "Rob me! I'm unarmed!"

 

[Kreton]

I think Uber should have left it well enough alone. It's another nail in their argument that their drivers are not employees. Also, they might as well post a sign on every Uber vehicle that reads, "Rob me! I'm unarmed!"

Like I said, I don't agree with thier decision, but otherwise is their right to make it.

 

[Ahlevah]

Like I said, I don't agree with thier decision, but otherwise is their right to make it.

In a state like mine where a personal automobile is considered an extension of his home, no, I don't think they have that right. It should be up to the car's owner whether or not he wants to possess a gun, within the law, of course. If Uber doesn't like it, it can do business in another state which doesn't mind businesses telling its citizens that they can't have guns in their personal space.

 

[Lutherf]

I'm not sure how Uber works but how would they possibly enforce this? I thought it was just an app that people used to find rides?

 

[reinoe]

Well, in Mississippi a person's personal automobile is considered an extension of his home. Meanwhile, Uber maintains that its drivers are not employees but independent contractors. So if you're going to argue that the law is attempting to ban people from forbidding guns in their private homes (or their extensions), then what you're really saying is Uber can't forbid its drivers from possessing guns in their personal automobiles. You can't have it both ways. It would be like Tupperware telling its hosts to get rid of the guns in the bedroom lock boxes before hosting parties in their personal residences.

No I didn't know Uber considered drivers independent contractors and not employees. That's different.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

Shows their mindset. **** them. I wish we had Uber in Wyoming so that I could make a point of not patronizing them.

 

[TurtleDude]

I think Uber should have left it well enough alone. Besides the legal points already mentioned, it's another nail in their argument that their drivers are not employees. Also, they might as well post a sign on every Uber vehicle that reads, "Rob me! I'm unarmed!"

years ago rental vehicles in Florida had license plates that informed anyone who paid attention (I think it was a Z in the plate number) that the car was a rental unit. This was before Florida would issue CCW permits freely-even to out of staters. So mopes figured out that someone in a car like that was out of state and unless he was a DEA agent or USMS or FBI SA, chances were he was unarmed. and those cars were specifically targeted for robbery-or worse. that changed due to the increased crimes but you make a good point.

armed drivers create an umbrella of protection from uncertainty for everyone. if you are a scumbag you normally don't know which car is carrying say a guy like me who has a gun in the trunk, often a gun in my console, a "tactical" knife in my pocket, and a Becker "Matchax" also in my trunk. ON some days I have a shotgun or a M4 carbine in my trunk as well. and my wife-a typical middle aged house wife, always has a Sig 380 on her, another one in each car (in case she doesn't bring her purse but just a wallet) and often a shotgun in the trunk. several days a week we are going to shoot olympic trap, or steel matches so we have several fast firing semi auto pistols with 8 fully loaded magazines each in a vehicle.

and since a mope doesn't know who packs like we do, that is a deterrence. put a sign on a car saying NO GUNS-guess which one the mopes pick

 

[Ahlevah]

years ago rental vehicles in Florida had license plates that informed anyone who paid attention (I think it was a Z in the plate number) that the car was a rental unit. This was before Florida would issue CCW permits freely-even to out of staters. So mopes figured out that someone in a car like that was out of state and unless he was a DEA agent or USMS or FBI SA, chances were he was unarmed. and those cars were specifically targeted for robbery-or worse. that changed due to the increased crimes but you make a good point.

Yeah, that's true. Florida passed its concealed carry law in 1987. From that point through the end of 1993 Florida issued almost 200,000 concealed carry permits. Coincidentally, almost from the moment the law went into effect into the early 1990s criminals targeted tourists in rental cars in so-called "smash-and-grab" robberies. (The rental plates had the word "Lease" on them.) Criminals could also easily spot rental vehicles by the bumper sticker advertisements rental companies placed on them. After a wave of robberies, including several high-profile cases involving the murders of foreign tourists, occurred, rental car companies were pressured by tourism officials into removing the offending bumper stickers. Most, but not all, complied. Then, after tourists were advised about avoiding unfamiliar areas and assuming other precautions, the robbers began committing "bump-and-run" robberies in which visitors were targeted after they picked their rental vehicles up at airports and the cars were hit from the rear while driving down the highway. The issue came to head after a 33-year-old German man was shot to death in front of his pregnant wife after he refused to pull their rental car over when it was bumped while driving from Miami's airport to their hotel. Once Florida saw the state's then $30 billion-a-year tourism industry threatened after all of the negative publicity surrounding that and similar incidents, the state changed its tune and removed the plates. The last of the identifying bumper stickers also disappeared.

So any notion that criminals aren't rational or don't consider the likelihood of getting shot is pure, unadulterated hogwash.

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