1st in nation: San Jose mayor wants to force gun owners to have liability insurance

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San José City Council will vote Tuesday on requiring every household with a gun owner to have liability insurance coverage for their firearms and pay an annual fee – which would make San Jose the first city or state in the nation with such gun violence reduction proposals. 

Liccardo spoke to KTVU about the subject on Monday and he also wrote an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times noting that San Jose has endured three mass shootings in three years, including the most recent one at a VTA light railyard where 10 people died, including the gunman. 

Requiring every gun owner in my city to carry liability insurance will better compensate unintentional shooting victims and their families for medical and related expenses, Liccardo argued. 

And even more importantly, he emphasized, insurance can also incentivize safer gun ownership. Risk-adjusted premiums, he said, will encourage owners to take gun-safety courses, use gun safes or install child-safe trigger locks to reduce the annual toll of accidental gun harm.