The city of San Jose on Tuesday voted to pass a law that would compel gun owners to take out insurance to cover any damage caused by their weapon, a move that its mayor said is the first of its kind in the US.
The plan, voted on by the city council, would also require weapons owners in the Californian city to pay an annual fee that would fund a non-profit group to help victims of gun violence.
“Tonight, San Jose became the first city in the United States to enact an ordinance to require gun owners to purchase liability insurance, and to invest funds generated from fees paid by gun owners into an evidence-based initiative to reduce gun violence and gun harm,” Mayor Sam Liccardo wrote on Twitter.
The proposed ordinance, which must pass a second reading on Feb. 8 before it becomes law in August, is also intended to cut down the costs to taxpayers.
“We have seen how insurance has reduced auto fatalities over several decades, for example, by incentivizing safer driving, and the purchase of cars equipped with airbags and antilock brakes,” Liccardo said ahead of the vote.
“Similarly, gun liability insurance available today on the market can adjust premiums to encourage gun owners to use gun safes, install trigger locks and take gun safety classes,” he added.
Firearms are prevalent in the US, where about 40 percent of adults live in a gun-owning household, the Pew Research Center said.
Almost 23 million firearms were sold across the country in 2020 and 40,000 people die from gunshots annually.
Despite the toll and the fact that most Americans favor tightening gun control rules, attempts to limit gun ownership have failed, with opponents saying that controls are an infringement of individual liberties.
A news release from the San Jose City Council said that gun violence costs the city nearly US$40 million per year, including for emergency police and medical response, healthcare and investigations.
“While the second amendment protects every citizen’s right to own a gun, it does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right,” Liccardo said.
The US$25 annual fee would help to fund programs aimed at reducing gun violence, as well as mental health counseling and addiction treatment.
Ahead of the vote, the National Foundation for Gun Rights, an advocacy group, described the proposed law as “a blatantly unconstitutional scheme.”
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