If you’re carrying a gun and need a ride, don’t count on Uber to pick you up anymore.
Uber recently updated its legal policy to prohibit firearms for both drivers and passengers.
“Any rider or driver found to have violated this prohibition may lose access to the Uber platform,” the policy reads.
The decision coincides with the revived gun control debate after Dylann Roof shot and killed nine in a Charleston church. But ironically, the company first considered making the change after an employee prevented a mass shooting in April.
The Chicago Tribune reported an Uber driver shot a gunman that fired at a crowd in Chicago’s Logan Square. Gunman Everardo Custodio was shot, but no other injuries occurred. If the driver had not intervened, the result could have been much worse.
But the company still found reason to ban firearms. In a statement sent to the New Republic, Uber spokesman Matt McKenna said, “We made this policy change after assessing existing policies and carefully reviewing recent feedback from both riders and driver-partners.”
Uber recently suffered a major setback when a California labor panel ruled that its drivers are employees of the company, not independent contractors, despite the fact that drivers work their own hours and use their own cars and phones. The panel cited company policies that hint Uber has more control over its drivers’ activities and behavior than it generally lets on. As Uber appeals that ruling, this new rule on drivers’ decisions to carry or allow guns in their own cars is an example of the kind of rule that made it possible.
Uber is not the first company to respond to the gun rights debate. Its ride-share competitor Lyft already had a strict no-weapons policy.
Last year Panera Bread enacted a more relaxed “No guns, please” policy — not outright banning firearms but urging customers to keep them outside the restaurant. Starbucks, Chipotle and Target have crafted similar policies in an attempt not to take sides in the gun debate.
Emily Leayman is an intern at the Washington Examiner
