San Francisco-based Uber, the Internet ride-sharing app that operates in over 250 cities, has announced that it is banning both drivers and passengers from carrying firearms to make them feel more “comfortable.”
Uber joins Lyft, another ride-sharing app, in banning lawful gun possession. The policies do not explain why either company fears lawful gun owners, whom studies have shown to be more law-abiding than the general population.
Inexplicably, Uber’s policy change follows the actions of a heroic Chicago Uber driver who, on April 21, shot a man who was firing at a group of pedestrians. Prosecutors declined to press charges against the driver, who possessed a concealed-carry permit, saying he acted in defense of himself and others.
Meanwhile, the corporate change has not made drivers and passengers safer: On June 25, a man armed with a rifle robbed a NYC Uber driver while on a late-night pickup in Queens.
