San Jose Requires Liability Insurance for Gun Owners
As part of a response to the May 26th shooting at a local rail yard, San Jose has instituted an insurance law holding gun owners responsible for taxpayer costs associated with gun violence.
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San Jose city council members have unanimously approved a law that requires gun owners to carry liability insurance, the first of its kind in the country, reports USA Today. The law requires resident gun owners to pay a fee to cover taxpayers’ costs associated with gun violence. A preliminary report released ahead of the vote estimates that the cost of gun violence to taxpayers in the city from 2013-2019 was $442 million in direct out-of-pocket cost, lost work and quality of life, said the statement. That translates to at least $63 million annually.
The new insurance law is part of a 10-point gun control plan that Liccardo unveiled following the May 26 Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rail yard shooting that claimed the lives of ten people, including the shooter himself. The fee will be determined by the findings of the final report, published by Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation by the end of this year. However, while city officials know how many guns were purchased in San Jose since 2001, the city itself has no gun registry and no way to track gun owners.
