Uber Bans Firearms - Petition Started

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aceflyer

Inactive
Uber, the ride-sharing service, recently announced they are banning firearms inside vehicles used for their service. I recently started a petition asking them to reverse their policy. Let's put some pressure on them to change it back and not have moving "gun-free" zones. We all know those are the environments criminals target most.

Fox News Article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/2...drivers-from-carrying-guns/?intcmp=latestnews
 
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Let's put some pressure on them to change it back and not have moving "gun-free" zones.
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Why would you tell them you are carrying?
It's an illegal "taxi service" and hopefully your gun is legally carried.
If you don't like their policies, don't use the service
 
We don't do links to the change.org petitions here. They're ineffective and they distract people from taking valid action. To that end, it may help to post a contact address or email for someone in Uber's corporate office.

That said, Uber has a bit of a problem at the moment. They've claimed that drivers are essentially independent contractors who use their personal vehicles. As such, they're not entitled to the protections employees of a corporation receive, such as minimum wage and unemployment insurance.

However, how clear is the line between being an employee or a contractor? Right now, it appears Uber wants it both ways. They want to skim benefits by claiming drivers are contractors, but they want to meddle in their work to the extent they're being treated like employees.

Now, take a taxi or trucking company. I'm driving the company's vehicle, so they can forbid me from carrying or possessing weapons. If I'm using my own vehicle and they're calling me a "contractor," do they have that prerogative? I'd say no.
 
I heard some California agency has declared Uber to be an employer. Will be interesting to follow this can of worms.
 
They want to skim benefits by claiming drivers are contractors, but they want to meddle in their work to the extent they're being treated like employees.
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As far as I know many "Independent Contractors" in Ohio face similar restrictions. They ay not be legal restrictions, but it is common in contracts here.
 
The line between employee and independent contractor can get kind of fuzzy. If someone doing your work turns out to be your employee, you wind up with a lot of baggage, like:

  1. Liability for the employer's portion of the Social Security and Medicare contributions;

  2. Withholding and remitting income tax;

  3. Being liable for work related illness or injury (whether or not you've purchased workers' compensation insurance).

These can be significant, expensive liabilities. Employers have gotten "hung out to dry" by the federal government on points 1 and 2 when an "independent contractor" has failed to pay FICA and/or make quarterly estimated income tax payments as self employed person.

Businesses doing business through independent contractors need to be careful to avoid doing things which would wind up causing those folks to be classified as employees. A principal factor in deciding whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee is the amount of control the "employer" exercises over how the "contractor" does his job. The more control, the more likely the "contractor" will turn out to be an employee.

All of this is an interesting facet of employment law, but kind of off-topic for us.
 
If I'm using my own vehicle and they're calling me a "contractor," do they have that prerogative? I'd say no.
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If that is the contractual agreement between Uber and its drivers, then what we think is not relevant. By participating as an Uber driver, drivers certainly may have agreed to said conditions, including how their vehicle is to be used and under what conditions.
 
Uber may put a "No guns" clause in their new contracts, but are they going to go back to all their current "contractors" and demand that they sign a revised contract that disallows firearms in the vehicles? And, if the drivers are independent contractors, how can Uber have anything to say about what a client does in the vehicle?

The more I hear/read about Uber, the less I like Uber.

BTW: I strongly recommend that you DO NOT ever sign a Change.org petition. Two weeks ago a friend sent me a link to one of their petitions and asked me to sign. It wasn't anything I objected to, so I signed. BIG mistake.

My e-mail was immediately spammed with junk from change.org, encouraging me to sign other petitions, to create my own petitions, to recommend change.org to all my friends, etc. They addressed me as "member," but I had not signed up for anything ior joined Change.org. All I did was sign one petition.

And there's no easy way to get OFF their spam list once you're on. There's a link you can click to deactivate your membership ... but I had never registered or joined, so I didn't have a password and couldn't access my "account" (which I had not set upo).

There are no phone numbers listed for Change.org -- anywhere. I finally contacted the Better Business Bureau in their locality. After that I received an e-mail from their legal department, advising me that I could deactivate my account by logging it. I responded (not very politely) that I could not access my "account" because I had not joined and I didn't have an account or a passwrod. The next e-mail from them said they had deactivated my account. They made it sound like they had done me a huge favor.

I don't know if they really deleted me from their database, but at least the spam stopped.

RUN AWAY!
 
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Uber may put a "No guns" clause in their new contracts, but are they going to go back to all their current "contractors" and demand that they sign a revised contract that disallows firearms in the vehicles?
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Uber may have specified (and likely did) having the power to determine operational parameters for cab operation in the contract. If so, no change in contract is necessary.

And, if the drivers are independent contractors, how can Uber have anything to say about what a client does in the vehicle?
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Just like a business owner can specify no guns in a business, Uber can require that their contractors specify no gun in the cabs. Whether or not that is enforced is another matter.

People sign away all sorts of things in exchange for money.
 
If they are dealing with "contractors", and a contractor violates this policy, it would seem to me that the worst Uber could so is cancel the contract. In Ohio you can be charged with criminal trespass for taking a weapon onto property where it is posted and restricted, but it would be hard to charge trespass in your personally owned vehicle.
 
When I woke up this morning I couldn't think of a better way to waste my time than take on a ride sharing service I will never use and even if I did, I'm pretty sure they don't frisk you before you get in the car. Invest your time on something more pro-gun productive.
 
Gotta love how the article shows that this change in policy comes about after a driver with a concealed carry permit defended himself and others by eliminating a threat by engaging a man that was shooting into a crowd.
By engaging I mean shot.

Awesome response Uber, I'll never do business with you.

Not that I would have. But I'm weird that way, I like to drive.
 
So, a business founded on freedom and choice wants to eliminate freedom and choice. This is a perfect example of the social media driven warped version of political correctness sweeping the country.
 
TimSr said:
In Ohio you can be charged with criminal trespass for taking a weapon onto property where it is posted and restricted, but it would be hard to charge trespass in your personally owned vehicle.
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I wonder if carrying a firearm in violation of driver instructions could be illegal under laws pertaining to the conduct of passengers using certain modes of transportation, e.g. the previous ban on firearms aboard Amtrak trains, or laws requiring passengers to follow the instructions of a crew member aboard an aircraft.* However, I'm totally unfamiliar with how such laws could apply to travel in a private hired motor vehicle.

*FOOTNOTE: Although carry aboard a commercial airline flight is obviously illegal just about everywhere, AFAIK carry is implicitly allowed aboard a charter or private flight in an aircraft under 12,500 lbs gross weight, provided that the type of firearm and mode of carry comply with state and local law, and that the flight avoids military airfields and/or restricted areas within major civil airfields. However, if a crew member gives the passenger an instruction saying "NO GUNS", the passenger has a duty to comply.
 
In Illinois the official "no guns" signs are only legally binding if posted on real property, so a car doesn't count. Worst that could happen is Uber bans you as a passenger, well worth the tradeoff considering they'll only find out if your life is on the line.
 
Do you really think ANY Uber drivers are going to post "GUN FREE ZONE" on their vehicles. I understand that Government can be that stupid, but taxi drivers?
 
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