Gun insurance will be required in California if bill passes

liability insurance mandatory coverage

gun insurance liability billOwners could soon have to purchase liability coverage to keep their weapons in the state.

The Democratic lawmakers in California have been considering legislation that would require firearm owners in the state to have to buy liability gun insurance in order to cover any injuries or damages that are could result from the use of their weapons.

Many other states have been introducing similar bills following the trend of school shootings.

Among the other states that are looking into required gun insurance are New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. San Francisco’s Assemblyman Philip Ting, worked with Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez from Los Angeles in order to introduce AB231, which would require gun insurance liability coverage for all owners of these firearms.

Ting stated that the gun insurance appeals to him as an effective way of managing violence with these weapons.

He said that “I was moved, like many others, being the father of two young children, by the Sandy Hook incident and looking for constructive ways to manage gun violence here in California as well as the rest of the country.” He also went on to say that “There’s basically a cost that is born by the taxpayers when accidents occur. … I don’t think that taxpayers should be footing those bills.”

Assemblyman Ting compared the concept of requiring gun insurance to the concept of having to buy auto coverage when you drive a car. On the other hand, Gomez stated that he believes that it will help to encourage a larger number of owners in California to take firearms safety classes and to take the appropriate steps to luck up their weapons so that they will be able to obtain lower premiums.

As of yet, none of the states have actually enacted the gun insurance requirements, even though numerous attempts have previously been made. This, according to National Conference of State Legislatures policy analyst, Jon Griffin. However, many lawmakers are beginning to introduce new bills of this nature due to the rash of shootings that has been occurring across the country.

Some of these new proposals would require that proof of gun insurance be shown before a consumer is permitted to purchase a firearm. In California, the requirement for coverage would apply to everyone who owns one of these weapons, though the specific details have yet to be hammered out.

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