The idea that gun owners should be required to purchase liability insurance has been making the rounds the past few years, and New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz is the latest to try to build legislation around it. Ortiz, a Democrat, introduced a bill in the state legislature to call for a $250,000 liability threshold before it is legal to own a gun. He has crafted similar legislation in the past but has failed to push it through committee.
While proponents act as if insurance would be a financial incentive for gun safety, there is no reason to think that owning a policy would make a household less susceptible to accidents—leaving aside the fact that insurance would not cover criminal use of a gun. This is simply another cynical gun-control ploy meant to make firearm ownership as expensive and burdensome as possible, and we should continue to reject it as such.
