Gun control precedent: San Jose, California, has passed the first-of-its-kind gun legislation in the United States, requiring all gun owners to carry liability insurance and pay an annual fee.
First-in-the-nation gun laws: New gun laws require owners to carry liability insurance and pay annual fee
The city council of San Jose, California, passed two measures on Tuesday night that are not only the first of their kind in the US but among the most strict in the nation, in a move aimed at reducing gun violence.
Similar laws have been proposed in other cities. Still, according to Brady United, a national nonprofit that advocates against gun violence, CBS reported, San Jose is the first to pass such proposals.
According to CNN, the city, which sits in the Golden State’s Silicon Valley, split the ordinance into two parts.
The first part requires that all gun owners carry liability insurance, which was passed by a vote of 10-1.
The second part requires all gun owners to pay an annual fee, which passed by a vote of 8-3.
However, the measure isn’t law next. Next month, the ordinance will receive its final reading and must be approved, and if so, it will go into effect in August.
Why the Council approved the measure
Ahead of the vote, San Jose’s Democratic mayor Sam Liccardo estimated that the city’s taxpayers incur roughly $442 million in gun-related costs each year. San Jose is home to about 1 million residents.
“Certainly, the Second Amendment protects every citizen’s right to own a gun,” Liccardo said during a news conference on Monday. “It does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right.”
Reportedly, several council members have lost friends to gun violence. San Jose Councilman Sergio Jimenez called guns “a scourge on our society.”
Mayor Liccardo said he hoped to support other cities to “replicate these initiatives across the nation,” NBC reported.
What the liability insurance means for gun owners
According to CBS SF Bay Area, the proposed insurance would be purchased through homeowners or renters insurance and would cover everyone within the gun owner’s household.
The gun liability insurance would cover any losses or damages resulting from any accidental use of the firearm, including death, injury, or property damage. If a gun is lost or stolen, the firearm owner would be liable until the loss or theft is reported to authorities.
However, gun owners who don’t carry insurance won’t lose their guns or face any criminal charges under the ordinance. The penalty has not been specified, but speculation is it would be a monetary penalty.
What is the annual fee for gun owners?
The proposed annual fee for gun owners in San Jose would be $25 and collected by a yet-to-be-named nonprofit. The city would use the fees to fund community groups that teach firearm safety education and training and suicide prevention, domestic violence, and mental health services.
Gun advocates threaten lawsuit
After the new measures were announced, gun rights supporters threatened to sue to block the measures if they passed in February and became law.
Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, condemned the proposed law as “totally unconstitutional in any configuration,” NBC San Diego reported.
In response, Liccardo said attorneys have already volunteered to defend the city pro bono if legal action is taken in response to the new gun control legislation.
