Firearms insurance?

[DonP]

19. Not at all, just pointing out where mandatory insurance will very likely lead

A lot of people that don't really follow the issue that closely latch on to what sounds like a good idea at first, and never bother to look any deeper into it. Mandatory insurance, Universal background checks, magazine limits etc. all sound good, but none of them would ever stop the kind of horrific mass shooting crimes everyone is concerned about.

For example they buy into the; "Only 40% of guns sold are sold with a background check" bumper sticker thinking. That number came from a study conducted 2 years before there even were mandatory background checks. Today any gun sold by an FFL in their store or at a gun show, even private 1 to 1 sales have to undergo a Federal background check in a growing number of states.

Mandatory Firearm Owners Insurance will have no effect on criminals, because they won't bother with it, any more than they obey other laws. And it will basically hand the keys to the Federal and State Government over to the NRA in a year or two. Besides you are probably already covered by basic liability laws and homeowners or renters insurance of a law abiding gun owner.

I'm just trying to point out that it's a bit more complicated than just saying; "OK everybody buy insurance now".

FWIW the vast majority, like 90%+ of gun fatalities and injuries are due to criminal activity. From drug deals gone bad, to domestic violence. You and your family's odds of being shot an injured or killed drop precipitously to almost zero, if you aren't involved in, or adjacent to in your neighborhood, criminal activity.

If you or a member of your family are injured or killed by a careless gun owner in the next toilet stall over, you absolutely have recourse in civil court to sue the gun owner for damages, mental anguish, etc.

But, you can't sue the gun manufacturer, or the dealer who sold it (assuming it was a legal sale) unless there was a flaw in the gun's design or function, any more than you can sue Ford for a drunk driver hitting you with a '96 Explorer.