San Jose mayor proposes gun owners carry insurance and pay annual fee in wake of mass shooting

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by Brothanogood
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(CNN) Nearly two weeks after a gunman fatally shot nine coworkers at a San Jose light rail yard, the mayor of Northern California's most populous city is proposing first-of-its-kind gun safety restrictions that would require gun owners in the city to obtain insurance and pay an annual fee to cover the cost of gun violence.

While mass shootings draw much of the attention of gun violence, in the 13 days since the shooting at the Valley Transportation Authority facility , there have been eight additional shootings in San Jose, according to Mayor Sam Liccardo.

Liccardo's initiative, unveiled Tuesday, is aimed at providing care to injured victims and providing incentives for safer behavior. Some gun owners, he said, would already be covered through their homeowner's or renter's insurance.

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"If we cannot stop the horrors of gun violence in our cities, at least we're going to have the public stop paying for it," Liccardo said at a press conference. "The Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to own guns but does not require that every other taxpayer pay for that right ... requiring gun users to pay fees will help fund critical emergency medical and police response and reduce our taxpayers burdens."

The proposal would require all gun and ammunition purchases to be recorded on video and audio in an effort to discourage straw purchases for those who are legally ineligible to buy weapons, he said. Additionally, suicide prevention materials would be required at points of sale.

lovebus on June 10th, 2021 at 06:09 UTC »

This seems like it could be declared unconstitutional. In theory, you could outlaw guns entirely by making it a prohibitively expensive tax.

orange_drank_5 on June 10th, 2021 at 02:49 UTC »

As the #1 firearm insurance broker is the NRA, this would turn everyone into card-carrying premium NRA members.

romiphe on June 10th, 2021 at 00:56 UTC »

Make cops do the same while we're at it.