Halos App Shows Location of Gun Carriers; no Advantage to the Government

Ammoland ^ | 10 July, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Would you like to know if other legal gun carriers frequent the same areas that you do?

An iphone app is available.  Android users can be put on a wait list. From halosforce.com:

Halos is a revolutionary app for the exclusive use of individuals in the United States who have their state-issued concealed carry handgun license or otherwise fulfill the concealed carry eligibility requirements in their state of residence and are 21 years or older.

Halos anonymously allows members to see the approximate location of other members on a map. A member’s specific location is obscured (without revealing either identity or exact location). Members are not able to communicate with other members.

The premise of the app has merit.  The idea is that people can make known that a non specified gun carrier is in the general area.  The specific location is deliberately obscured.  The app allows gun carriers to obtain some of the advantages of open carry while retaining some of the advantages of concealed carry.  People who look at the app will have an idea of gun carriers in the area, and their approximate locations.  The app will only apply to those who sign up.

If a fair number of people sign up, it will give some indication of where legal gun carriers tend to be.  It is not any sort of registration or tracking device that is useful to the government.  Why not?

If you have a concealed carry permit and a cell phone (remember you have to have a cell phone for this app to work), the government can already track you.

They can track you far more accurately than this app does.

[Brookhaven]

So, it allows criminals to determine which areas are truly gun free zones.

[FreedomNotSafety]

My CCW had an interesting point. He said CCW is something you know that no one else knows (or should know). It is for when you need to defend the life of yours and you. The purpose of CCW is defeated when others know.

He also said your secret gives you a greater obligation to avoid ever having to use it.

This app is insane. My thought is I need a nice app that summarizes US Census data on demographics combined with crime geo based stats.

[marktwain]

“It is for when you need to defend the life of yours and you. The purpose of CCW is defeated when others know.”

That is one purpose of a CCW, but hardly the only one.

[marktwain]

“So, it allows criminals to determine which areas are truly gun free zones.”

No, at best it gives then a hint that some areas are more frequented by people who claim to carry guns, than others.

It is very limited in what actual information is given out.

It is primarily limited in that only a few people who carry will use the app.