A new rideshare app has begun in Atlanta and hopes to expand into other markets soon. While Uber and Lyft “rule the roost” when it comes to rideshare services, both companies are notoriously anti-Second Amendment. The new app, Black Wolf, will give riders the option to have a driver who is well-trained and armed, to provide an extra layer of security. Not only is Black Wolf a pro-Second Amendment business idea, but it is also a very much-needed service now that carjackings have gone through the roof in many metro areas.
Uber and Lyft currently have policies that basically say their own drivers should let criminals kill them if anything bad happens during a fare. That’s not an exaggeration. Their policies say drivers should cooperate with criminals and under no circumstances should they fight back.
Uber driver Joshua Miller found that out the hard way in Dallas, TX in 2021. Miller picked up a rider who pulled a gun on him and forced him to park the car. Miller was then forced to put a scarf over his head, and the gunman then tried to cut his throat with a knife. He stabbed Miller multiple times as he restarted the car and tried to drive away. Miller crashed, and then the gunman told him to pick up the debris on the hood of the car.
As Miller was trying to comply with the attacker again, he ran over Miller multiple times and killed him. While Miller was complying with the Uber policy of not fighting back to defend his own life or property (his car), it cost him his life.
Former Lyft driver Cynthia Norman went through a similar terrifying experience. She picked up two men who asked her to drive them to a bar in Cleveland, OH. When they arrived at the destination at 1 a.m., the bar was closed. That’s when the passenger in the backseat grabbed her by the neck and began choking her, and the passenger in the front seat started punching her in the face. They attacked her without warning.
Norman pulled her gun out of the center console and started blasting. The two suspects ran away when she defended herself. It was a clear-cut case of legitimate self-defense. Cynthia Norman is probably alive because she shot back at two larger men who were violently attacking her in her own car.
Who knows what would have happened to her if she had followed Lyft’s policy of complying with criminals? They weren’t making demands of her. There were no commands for her to follow. They simply started choking and punching her after they deliberately had her drive to a business that was closed after hours. It was a premeditated attack.
Lyft fired her.
When Lyft was asked by Cleveland media how it could justify firing its own employee who probably would have been killed if she didn’t have her gun in the car, Lyft’s arrogant response was to declare that it stands by its decision.
Black Wolf currently has a fleet of 15 vehicles operating in Atlanta. All of its drivers who carry firearms are licensed and trained and pass stringent background checks. The service seems to be taking off so far, despite charging a base fare of $60 for an armed driver, plus $1.75 per mile. Passengers can also request an unarmed driver for a base fare of $50.
Black Wolf’s CEO Kerry King Brown says he hopes to expand the armed luxury rideshare service into New York City soon. He acknowledges, however, that New York’s draconian anti-gun laws are going to make that a challenge.
In the meantime, upscale riders in Atlanta now have the choice to have some added protection with a rideshare service.