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A Republican from North Georgia tries to legalize the carrying of firearms by carpool drivers.
State representative, Scot Turner (R-Holly Springs), introduced a bill allowing business drivers like Uber and Lyft to carry guns. Turner is a driving force for these companies and told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) that the company's policy prohibiting drivers from carrying weapons puts them at risk.
"A person who engages in a carpool (service) does not give up his right to protect himself under the Second Amendment," Turner told the newspaper.
The law cited examples of car thefts involving Uber and Lyft drivers. AJC cited the example of September 2018: Two people dragged an Uber driver out of his car and beat him before stealing his vehicle. Just two days ago, a 39-year-old pregnant driver from Lyft was stabbed to death by a 20-year-old pbadenger. The mother of two and her unborn child were killed. In 2017, a 16-year-old girl was accused of killing an Uber driver with a knife and a machete.
Opponents of the bill would likely point to instances where drivers have been the aggressors. In June 2018, a driver of Uber was charged with the murder of a pbadenger. A blog for Atchison Transport – a chauffeur service and a competitor of cheaper carpool options – has published a long list of incidents involving Uber or Lyft drivers.
In Florida last year, a Uber driver shot and killed a man who forced him to stop, approached him and shouted that he had a gun. The man had mistakenly thought that the pbadenger in the driver's car was his girlfriend with whom he had fought.
It is in these cases of self-defense that Turner's bill could find an echo. Uber and Lyft are private companies and can develop policies as they see fit.
Turner's bill would be an example of government intervention in the decisions of a private company. At the same time, the constitution guarantees the right to carry a firearm.
The AJJ reports that it is unlikely that Turner's bill will go anywhere this year.
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