San Jose mayor unveils new plan for gun liability insurance and video recorded gun sales

SAN JOSÉ, CA – (NEWS RELEASE / SAN JOSE MAYOR’S OFFICE) –  San José continues to recover from a tragic mass shooting that took nine lives at the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) yard, yet in the 13 days since, San José has experienced 8 more gun-related acts of violence, including 3 more homicides, one officer-involved shooting of an individual armed with a handgun, and 4 shooting-related injuries.   Mayor Sam Liccardo, along with Vice Mayor Chappie Jones (D-1), Councilmembers Raul Peralez (D-3) (who was not present), David Cohen (D-4), Magdalena Carrasco (D-5), announced a series of proposals to undertake a common-sense “harm reduction” approach to gun violence. They were joined at a press conference by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Moms Demand Action volunteer Yvonne Murray, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence Litigation AttorneyEsther Sanchez-Gomez, and Co-President of the Winchester/Cadillac Project Hope Association, Maria Ines Ortega.

Among the proposals are two innovative approaches to gun safety that no city or state in the United States has yet implemented. First, with Council approval, San José would become the first city in the nation to require that every gun owner have liability insurance coverage for their firearms, to incentivize safer behavior from gun owners, and to compensate many injured victims.  Second, San José would become the first U.S. city to require gun owners to pay a fee to compensate taxpayers for the public cost of responding to gun-related injuries and death, such as for emergency medical and police response. Failure to comply with either of these mandates would subject the gun owner to the seizure of the weapon and potential fines.