Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Anti-gun Bigotry? There’s an App for That

Friday, February 27, 2015

Anti-gun Bigotry? There’s an App for That

In a story we first reported on in 2013, the makers of a cellphone application that purports to alert its users to the location of “dangerous guns and owners” continue to push the product. A 2015 version of the program developed at a lab run by the University of California San Diego is now in beta testing. Rather than provide any real service to its users, the Gun Geo Marker Mark 1 App appears to be little more than a thinly-veiled means to harass, and violate the privacy of, gun owners.

The app works by allowing users to anonymously tag locations on a map where they have a “gun related safety concern,” and allows them to comment on the nature of this concern. Other users are then able to see these tagged locations. Just what the utility of this is information is supposed to be is unclear.

The makers have included several categories to cite when tagging an unsafe location. Many of these categories involve behavior that is already illegal, such as “frequent unlawful discharge,” and “illegal firearms.” In these instances, a person with credible and specific information could simply use the cell phone to call the police with it. Where people don’t have substantial and verifiable information, the app would nevertheless encourage them to make unanswerable, anonymous accusations against others in their community.

Other categories, moreover, are based on entirely subjective determinations, allowing for postings based wholly on ignorance, speculation, or bad faith. These include “unlocked/loaded/unsafe storage,” and “insufficient safety or training.” The developers’ description of the latter category states, “First time gun owners or others who may not have not taken basic gun safety training, or who were not raised in a culture of gun safety, might use guns in an unsafe way at certain locations that might be worth marking.”

Despite the obvious concerns the app raises, the project’s website provides a considerable amount of high-handed lip service regarding the app’s positive gun rights implications. In an F.A.Q. section the developers insist, “Brett Stalbaum, the primary project developer is a gun owner and pro second amendment activist.” Of course, arch gun control sugar daddy Michael Bloomberg said the same thing himself.

As we have seen, people with an irrational fear of, or hatred for, guns and their owners will go to considerable lengths to publicize these feelings. Kimberly Edson of Savage, Minn., posted a sign on her front lawn featuring a surreptitiously taken photograph of a man who lawfully carries a firearm while dropping his child off for school each morning. The picture is accompanied by the caption: “This man carries a loaded gun around your children every day.” Some newspapers have proposed searchable lists of gun license and Right-to-Carry permit holders. In 2012, The Journal News posted a map of pistol license holders in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Indeed, in the “privacy policy” section of their website, Gun Geo Marker’s developers appear to be aware of their app’s potential for abuse. While claiming to stand on the First Amendment, they also detail “privacy” features designed to protect those who leave tags from being served with a “subpoena.”

Of course, libel and other forms of defamation are not protected by the First Amendment, and the privacy features designed by the developers could just as easily protect false and malicious taggers.

That a number of people at a university would take the time and effort to develop a digital platform specifically to spread anonymous, unverified gossip about their gun owning neighbors is a pretty good indication of the pettiness and desperation to which the anti-gun movement has sunk.  We’d like to say we expect better, but we’ll let their actions speak for themselves.

TRENDING NOW
Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Pure gun control. As in disarmament and banning of firearms. It’s rare that anti-gunners get straight to the exact point that we have been warning of for decades. 

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Monday, July 7, 2025

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the Florida Budget for Fiscal Year 2025–2026, which includes a Second Amendment sales tax holiday from September 8 through December 31, 2025. The NRA is thankful for Governor DeSantis’ strong ...

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) may have thought he had scored against President Donald Trump in a recent war of words over rampant crime and the deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-led cities

Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Report: Senior ATF Official Joins (Private) Firearm Prohibition Lobby

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the federal agency whose jurisdiction encompasses federal firearms laws. 

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8 into law. This legislation imposes new mandatory firearm storage requirements on law-abiding gun owners.  

Arkansas Atrocity Highlights Need for Reform in Rules Governing Carry in Public Parks

News  

Monday, August 25, 2025

Arkansas Atrocity Highlights Need for Reform in Rules Governing Carry in Public Parks

On the heels of the shocking and seemingly random murder of a couple in an Arkansas state park while they were walking a trail with their young children, many are revisiting their self-defense plans in the great ...

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Today, the House rescheduled the veto override vote on Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to Monday, September 22. 

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

Close observers of the gun debate often see references to due process.

ABAs Latest Resolution Continues to Ignore Liberty and Hinder Justice for Gun Owners

News  

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

ABAs Latest Resolution Continues to Ignore Liberty and Hinder Justice for Gun Owners

Last month, the American Bar Association (ABA), via its Standing Committee on Gun Violence, passed yet another anti-gun resolution at their annual meeting in Toronto (the venue should serve as a clue regarding their commitment ...

Third Circuit Sua Sponte Takes NRA’s “Assault Firearm” and Magazine Ban Case En Banc

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Third Circuit Sua Sponte Takes NRA’s “Assault Firearm” and Magazine Ban Case En Banc

Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs v. Attorney Gen. New Jersey is an NRA-supported challenge to New Jersey’s prohibitions on so-called “assault firearms” and magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.