US – Lawmakers propose liability insurance for US gun owners

Lawmakers eager to reduce gun violence in their states are proposing mandatory liability insurance for American firearm owners as a new way to limit deaths and injuries. 

Proponents argue that operators of vehicles must have liability insurance and so should gun owners. Those who take safety courses, have fewer and safer weapons and store them securely could get lower rates than those who do not. 

“We may not be able to reduce intentional shootings as a result of liability insurance, but I do believe we can reduce accidental shootings,” said David Linsky, a democratic representative in Massachusetts who has proposed mandatory insurance for gun owners. 

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, no state has a gun liability insurance law. Since 2003, almost two-dozen such bills have been rejected nationwide, 15 of them being in New York. The liability insurance proposals come as President Barack Obama is campaigning for stricter federal gun controls. 

Efforts to control guns face an uphill climb politically in the face of a strong pro-gun lobby, including the National Rifle Association (NRA) and constitutional protection for firearms ownership. According to its website, the NRA itself offers excess personal liability insurance of up to USD 250,000 for hunters and for shooters at competitions or private ranges. 

A Maryland proposal would mandate that anyone possessing a firearm have liability insurance of at least USD 250,000. It requires anyone selling, renting out or transferring a gun to verify that the person possessing it has liability insurance. 

Mandating liability insurance would help pay for damage caused by guns, Linsky said. But the main reason “Is to get the marketplace involved in making gun ownership safer,” he said. 

Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute in New York said, “A legislature could in theory mandate gun liability coverage, but you cannot require insurers to offer that coverage. If insurers declined to offer coverage, states themselves might have to set up insurance liability programs.” 

Some homeowners’ policies cover accidental gun discharges, but those cases are a small fraction of the millions of claims filed each year he said.