New app hires drivers for shared rides that bring the heat

Atlanta, Georgia, has launched a ride-sharing app that allows drivers to carry guns. last week. The people behind the app say it’s meant to be to combat the rising levels of gun violence in the United States. The Black Wolf app boasts of hiring private security trained drivers to give passengers peace of mind on their next trip.

Black Wolf will now compete with Uber And Elevator to give riders a new way to travel,” said founder and CEO Kerry KingBrown. Atlanta news first, “We always care about safety.” KingBrown, a private investigator and veteran bodyguard, told the publication he wants riders to have “executive protection” during times of uncertainty. “Who is most often shown on the news when they are robbed and raped? An ordinary person,” he said. “What I create is a necessary evil. It’s a necessity.”

The idea came to KingBrown while he was working as a security driver for a member of Congress who pointed out a shortage of armed drivers in the market. Black Wolf website. The company has “over 20 years of combined training in military special forces, executive security, private detective and professional celebrity bodyguards,” and says the drivers are trained in simulated combat, vehicle tactics and active shooting situationsamong others.

Black Wolf did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment, but KingBrown told the Atlanta News, “We’re not here to fight anyone, we’re not here to draw guns. Despite the fact that it says that they are armed, we are taught not to do so.

Black Wolf offers passengers a choice of three options, the most common being an armed security driver who is trained to handle weapons in emergencies, and a school bus driver who operates as a school bus to take children to school. But for those who don’t feel comfortable being driven around by an unknown creature armed with a gun, the app also provides the alternative of an unarmed security driver who is still trained to keep the passenger safe.

The cost of hiring an armed Black Wolf driver is a base price of $60, according to the Atlanta News, or $50 for unarmed drivers and an additional $1.75 per mile.

While KingBrown says a new sharing option is needed, Reddit netizens aren’t so sure, with many expressing skepticism about giving “concert workers” guns, and one person wrote, “Ah yes, I want nothing more than to jump in a car with an armed stranger. Because none of us have ever gotten into an Uber without thinking, “Damn, I wish this person was wearing a seatbelt.”

And while KingBrown has assured passengers that drivers will carefully check backgrounds, they are not always reliable, as seen in separate mass shootings in Nashville, Tennessee and Louisville, Kentucky, where both shooters were found to have acquired the weapons used in the attacks. . legally.

A study The National Institute of Justice found that 77% of those who carried out mass shootings acquired at least some of their weapons legally, and according to Statisticsin the 94 mass shootings carried out in the United States between 1982 and April 2023—the vast majority—the shooters used guns they had obtained legally.

In other words, KingBrown’s reassurance that armed drivers are trustworthy is no guarantee, and as one person on Reddit predicted, “When things go wrong, things go very badly.”