Firearms Insurance Legislation

July 9, 2013

This article claims there are 6 states plus Washington DC that have proposed legislation that would required firearms owners to purchase liability insurance. It iss a very brief summary of the states and status. So far none of the proposals has passed. The list includes:

California
Connecticut
Massachusetts
New York
Pennsylvania
Washington DC

Amounts seem to come in two sizes - $250,000 and $1 million.

It doesn't go into any detail about the numerous opposing arguments, like:

1) Insurance held by law abiding people does nothing to reduce gun violence.
2) This would require citizens to PAY to exercise their constitutionally provided 2nd Amendment rights.
3) This could make gun ownership unaffordable to low income citizens who would like to exercise their rights.
4) At least some homeowners insurance polices already cover firearms related injuries.
5) Specific 'firearms liability' insurance may not even exist today. There would be no requirement for any insurance company to provide it which could effectively become a ban on firearms ownership and 2nd Amendment rights in these jurisdictions.
6) Because these insurance policies don't exist we don't know what they'd cost. I read a comment months ago that mentioned premiums being in the $2500 range. While that may be inflated, it's ridiculously expensive as a mandatory cost to exercise a constitutional right.
7) This appears to be more of an attempt to limit gun ownership in general than to solve any particular or perceived problem.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/6-states-plotting-insurance-attacks-on-gun-owners.html/?a=viewall

The author may have missed some states. I don't know if Illinois had a formal legislative proposal or not but Chicago Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy spoke in support of it.

More Moronic Statements from Chicago Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy

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