Possible Solution to Gun Violence

I know how to truly curb gun violence in America without infringing upon the second amendment, and do it in a way that hardly anyone could complain about. I hate doing this as I am a gun supporter, but the solution is so obvious that I cannot ignore it.

The answer is to force insurance upon gun owners. If you want to own a gun in America, you must insure it. The insurance companies will do the rest. They will make it financially unsound to own certain weapons unless strict requirements are made.

Are you under 18 and want a high-powered rifle? Your insurance would be very expensive. Do you own a locking gun-cabinet? You get a discount. Have you had weapons stolen before? Higher premiums for you! Have your weapons been used in a murder? Insurance would compensate the victims.

You see, you wouldn’t be curbing anyone’s right to own a firearm. True, it would make it harder for a poor person to own a firearm, but I’m sure the insurance on a regular shotgun would be cheaper than the insurance on a high-powered rifle. Actuarial “scientists” will determine who pays what.

How do you force someone to insure their weapons? Would you need to register them? Good luck with requiring a registration, but all weapons are supposed to have serial numbers. I’ve been told that any weapon with serial numbers ground off are illegal and subject to seizure.

Any weapon in the open or being transported without insurance ought to be subject to seizure. If you want to have a shotgun in your home and don’t want to insure it, that’s fine, but you’re still liable for it should someone steal it and rob a bank. Is it worth losing your home over an uninsured weapon? That will be the reality of those owning firearms if a system is put in place that forces firearms owners to take financial liability for their weapons.

Firearms owners won’t register their weapons with the government, which is a concern with 2^nd amendment proponents. However, they will register their weapons with private insurance companies who will then regulate how firearms are to be stored and the insurance premiums will dictate that firearms owners be responsible or else pay for it.

Requiring financial liability for something in our capitalistic society is not something that is normally frowned upon. It’s in socialist countries where the society bears the brunt of liability. For instance, in socialist countries, if you fall sick, the government pays for you to get better. Risk is spread across the entire population. In America, we have generally shunned the government getting involved and we seem to prefer having people have no health coverage rather than having government take care of the problem. It’s as if it’s okay to have an insurance company dictate our coverage limitations and costs rather than our elected leaders. It doesn’t make much sense to me, but that’s America. Therefore, by asking gun owners to accept liability for their firearms, and to cover them with insurance, who could complain? It won’t be the government knocking on your doors to see your gun safe, it will be your insurance agent.

This is an entirely new way of thinking and would take time to set up the system to regulate firearm insurance, but the insurance companies would have financial incentive to set up an efficient system. In the same manner that insurance companies have crowed about their improvement of automobile safety over the years, they can help improve gun safety. Insurance companies are some of the largest lobbyists in government. They ask lawmakers for laws all the time, especially those that limit their liability. They love lower speed limits and seat belts. This is what insurance companies do and can do to the gun community.