Massachusetts bill would require gun liability insurance

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

I have previously posted about the concept of liability insurance for firearms as a market-based incentive for gun safety. A bill was advanced in Illinois several years ago, but failed. Now a Massachusetts Bill Would Require Gun Liability Insurance:

Massachusetts gun owners would be required to purchase liability
insurance in case their firearm was ever used to injure someone under a
bill being filed at the Statehouse.

The initiative is included in a gun control measure which would also
change standards for gun licenses and outlaw large capacity magazines.

Under the bill being filed Friday, individuals applying for gun
permits in Massachusetts would have to show proof of firearms insurance.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. David Linksy, compared the change to the
requirement that car owners have auto insurance before registering their
vehicles.

Linksy said requiring insurance could create market-based gun safety incentives.

Gun owners could see their insurance drop, say, if they agreed to
take a firearms training course and properly stored their weapons.

Ad hoc state laws like this are probably not the best way to go. Uniform Laws and Model Acts designed with the insurance sector as a partner would probably be better. That process should begin.