DC cab drivers argue for firearm rights

This is America dammit...not Iraq or Africa, WTF!
People still need the use of the 2nd Amd on a daily basis right here in the good ol USA.

Does anyone know if DC Cabbies are allowed to smoke tobacco in their cabs and, if not, why not. Some jurisdictions designate a taxi, an 18 wheeler or a delivery van as the driver's workplace and have determined that smoking in the workplace is verboten.

It would be interesting to find out that DC considers a taxi as the driver's business premises as far as smoking is concerned but not a business premises where firearms are concerned.

Have one's cake and eat it too??

I'm really pretty sure there was an appellate case in California years and years ago which decided that a taxicab was its driver's place of business and therefore cabdrivers could lawfully possess loaded firearms in their cabs without (unobtainable) CCW permits. Now, I really don't know the current state of the law, but even back in the day the rule was limited to cabdrivers and maybe roach-coach operators-- a different appellate decision had excluded commercial truck drivers including owner-operators.

Well if the cabbies can’t defend themselves, the alternative is to armor up; something that’s proof against small arms. At this point, DC doesn’t have to deal with .50 cal, RPGs or IEDs; at least not yet. Armored limousines are too susceptible to body damage when plowing through road blocks. The body would have to be rugged enough to plow through road blocks with minimal damage. My first thought is a 4 door version of Cadillac Gage Commando; minus the armament, of course. The Mowag Eagle IV armored truck looks like a possibility as well but it is a bit plain. The vehicle I would love to see as an armored taxi is the Millenworks Light Utility Vehicle. This would look positively cute painted like a Hot Wheels car would be in demand whether the situation warranted or not.

That could be rather expensive there Jerry, buying these type of vehicles for cabies. Much less investment to just allow the 2nd Amd to be used the way it suppossed to be. Maybe a bullet proof vest(and windows) and devidor to the back seat area could be added for a little peace of mind, if that's even possible in this type of job.

When I was working at a PR firm in D.C. about ten years ago, one of the VPs was late coming in to work one day. Being one of his subordinates, I asked him what happened. He said he had to have his car towed into a repair shop for service. A cabbie had hit him last night at his place near Dupont Circle and damaged his Saab severly.

I said that was really nice of the cab driver to leave his name and contact info, instead of pulling a hit-and-run. My VP responded that he was easy to find. He was slumped over in his seat, dead with a head wound. Seems the poor man was a victim of a robbery that went bad and crashed into my VP's car as he passed away.

It's still to this day the best excuse for being late that I have ever heard.

Hope the DC cabbies are allowed to carry; the place-of-business argument is a good one. Met one on a fare who didn't care. After I told him I was a strong defender of the 2A and his rights, he was nice enough to show me the big .45ACP pistol he kept under his front seat. (!)

I made sure I gave him a big tip for his personal defense of the 2A and himself. And told him not to trust all average looking, well-dressed lobbyist guys like me; some of us are also federal agents and are not so understanding of basic rights.

Urban denizens setting up ambushes isn't strictly for cabbies. Waaaay back in the day, when I was a social worker, working with adjudicated youths in Camden, NJ, I dropped a client off at his home about 10pm. On the way home, a detour sign got me off the main road, and around the block. Turned out it was a trap. I saw the end of the street blocked off by a mob, while another car was sliding in behind me, lights off.

I escaped, stuntman driving in reverse over the sidewalk.

I flagged the first cop I could find and told him my tale. His reaction was, "again?"

I drove a Yellow Cab in Denver the summer between college and law school, in 1974. There had been a string of cab robberies and one cabbie had been killed. The ten O'clock news ran a special report on it and focused mainly on the fact that cabbies should not panic and start carrying guns because it was prohibited by cab commission regulations and was illegal by City ordinance. They seemed to not have a clue that they were encouraging more robberies. That is probably when I became an advocate of gun rights and started believing that gun control is supported by stupid people.