Uber Bans Guns From Cars Under New No-Firearms Policy

Uber, the global ride-share company, has implemented a no-firearms policy for drivers and passengers.

The San Francisco-based firm claims that the policy went into effect on June 10, before the horrific Charleston church shootings.

Under a previous policy, drivers were instead required to comply with all laws in their jurisdiction (i.e., local, state, and federal) covering transporting firearms in cars.

The revised guideline called “Uber firearms prohibition policy” imposes a strict no-guns requirement. It can be found on the Uber website in the legal/other section.

“We seek to ensure that everyone using the Uber digital platform—both driver-partners and riders—feels safe and comfortable using the service. During a ride arranged through the Uber platform, Uber and its affiliates therefore prohibit possessing firearms of any kind in a vehicle. Any rider or driver found to have violated this prohibition may lose access to the Uber platform.”

Uber told The New Republic that it adopted the policy in its current form after “carefully reviewing recent feedback from both riders and driver-partners.”

In April, as the Inquisitr previously reported, a Chicago Uber driver legally carrying a concealed pistol shot and wounded a gunman who was firing his weapon into a crowd. Authorities determined that the driver acted in self-defense.

Commenting on the new Uber policy, the Wall Street Journal noted that Uber could find itself — like other businesses — immersed intentionally or unintentionally in the controversial debate over gun control vs. gun rights. “Uber’s move to ban guns could raise questions about how far the company can go in regulating the behavior of its drivers, whom it does not employ, and controlling the experience in their cars, which it does not own. This month, California’s labor commissioner ruled one Uber driver should be classified as an employee, rather than an independent contractor, because Uber is ‘involved in every aspect of the operation,’ from vetting drivers and their vehicles to setting rates for trips.”

Lyft, Uber’s main rival, already has a more far-reaching ban in place.

“To keep our entire community comfortable, Lyft has a strict ‘No Weapons’ policy. This means that if any driver or passenger possesses a weapon in a Lyft vehicle, regardless of whether possession is legal where they are, they will be removed from the platform.We approach this issue from a community perspective — it’s hard to know what someone else is or isn’t comfortable with. The mere presence of a weapon might make another community member distressed. Lyft reserves sole judgement on what constitutes a ‘weapon’…”

Parenthetically, if the California ruling that Uber drivers are employees goes national, the company would have significantly more legal authority to tell its drivers what is or isn’t permissible on the job.

Do you agree or disagree with the Uber firearms prohibition policy? Would it encourage or discourage you in any way from using the Uber app and/or becoming a Uber customer?

[Photo by Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images New]