Halos is “a mobile application that allows citizens with concealed handgun permits or are legally entitled to carry a concealed weapon in their state of residence to anonymously and approximately represent themselves on a mobile device.” [Full press release via ammoland.com below.]
“With Halos, one can now post a giant warning sign for those contemplating violence,” founder Dan Cook explains. “Halos’ maps illustrate not only where the good guys are (or are not) but how many are present. We believe that this will create a ‘halo’ effect of safety for our users and deter criminals where there are high concentrations of gun-carrying citizens.”
Just thinking out loud here . . . Couldn’t bad guys use the app to avoid or even target concealed carriers? There’s a reason Mexican cartel members monitor military and police channels. And doesn’t Halo violate the rule “concealed means concealed”? Your take?
PRESS RELEASE:
Jackson, WY (Ammoland.com) – Halos, a mobile application that allows citizens with concealed handgun permits or are legally entitled to carry a concealed weapon in their state of residence to anonymously and approximately represent themselves on a mobile device, has launched.
Designed and produced by Halos Force LLC, users join the Halos community and elect to be represented in several different ways on a heat map, revealing areas of high and low concentrations of concealed carry permit holders in the immediate vicinity of its users, in real time.
Halos Founder Dan Cook said, “With Halos, one can now post a giant warning sign for those contemplating violence. Halos’ maps illustrate not only where the good guys are (or are not) but how many are present. We believe that this will create a ‘halo’ effect of safety for our users and deter criminals where there are high concentrations of gun-carrying citizens.”
While the number of concealed carry permits across the U.S. has more than tripled since 2007 to nearly 14 million in 2016, citizens who carry concealed handguns provide little discernable deterrence to violent crime. This fundamentally changes with Halos.
Carry permit holders are accustomed to carrying concealed, so Halos members have several options and tools to manage the degree of their visibility to others and protect their identity (see Halos map). The degree to which a member chooses to obscure their identity directly correlates with both the safety of an area as communicated to other users and Halos’ deterrent value.
Leveraging the premise that there is safety in armed numbers, a virtually connected group of handgun carrying citizens can collectively telegraph to the criminally inclined that they are entering an armed area and potentially prevent crime before it even begins. This changes the dynamic of concealed carry from that of self-defense to both self-defense and deterrence.
Halos membership is currently restricted to those who possess a state issued concealed carry permit or individuals who reside in a Constitutional carry state.
Halos is available on the iTunes store today, and an Android version will be released soon.
Membership is free for the first 100 people in each state, after that members will pay $1.99/year. In the near future, Halos will offer a view-only version to the general public for an annual fee as well.
About Halos Force LLC
Halos Force is a Jackson, Wyoming-based limited liability corporation founded in 2016 for the purpose of creating mobile applications that are designed to give US citizens the tools to deter crime and make informed decisions on what are perceived to be safe areas. http://halosforce.com
Read more: http://www.ammoland.com/2016/06/halos-force-concealed-handguns-app/#ixzz4DAH1qavy
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