Congressional Democrats proposed legislation today to require gun owners to purchase insurance of face a $10,000 fine.
FOX News reported:
A New York Democratic lawmaker is behind a national push that would force gun owners to buy liability insurance or face a $10,000 fine.
The Firearm Risk Protection Act, pushed by Rep. Carolyn Maloney and seven co-sponsors, follows efforts at the state level to create the controversial new kind of insurance for gun owners.
“For too long, gun victims and society at large have borne the brunt of the costs of gun violence,” Maloney said in a written statement. “My bill would change that by shifting some of that cost back onto those who own the weapons.”
The likelihood, though, of Maloney’s bill gaining any traction is slim. Republicans control the House, and even states where Democrats have sizeable majorities have not approved the insurance idea.
Six states — California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania — have all introduced gun liability insurance legislation over the past few months. None has produced any results.
In Illinois, the House rejected a measure 34-74 that would require people carrying concealed weapons to also carry $1 million in liability insurance.
Rep. Mahoney’s released this statement on the gun insurance legislation.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and eight cosponsors have introduced the “Firearm Risk Protection Act” (H.R. 1369), the first bill to require liability insurance of gun buyers nationwide.
“For too long, gun victims and society at large have borne the brunt of the costs of gun violence. My bill would change that by shifting some of that cost back onto those who own the weapons,” Maloney said. “We have a long history of requiring insurance for high-risk products– and no one disputes that guns are dangerous. While many individual states are debating this issue now, it makes more sense for Congress to establish a national requirement to allow the insurance markets to begin to price the risks involved consistently nationwide.
“In the wake of tragedies such as Newtown, Aurora, and Tucson, our nation is searching for answers. While I support bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, improved background checks for gun buyers and defining straw purchases as a federal crime, a market-based approach such as this for legally purchased weapons is another common-sense way forward,” Maloney concluded.
H.R. 1369 requires gun buyers to have liability insurance coverage before being allowed to purchase a weapon and imposes a fine of $10,000 if an owner is found not to have the required coverage; service members and law enforcement officers are exempt from this insurance requirement.
