San Jose, CA has become the first U.S. city to approve liability insurance for gun owners.
Background: San Jose has experienced multiple mass shootings and the rest of the country is also in the midst of a spike in gun violence, prompting citizens to push for stricter gun laws.
The most recent mass shooting occurred on May 26th at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rail yard, where an employee fatally shot nine people and then killed himself.
The following month the San Jose City Council unanimously voted to pass gun owner liability.
What Happened: The San Jose City Council held a final vote on Tuesday to turn a proposal it previously passed into law requiring gun owners in the city to carry the insurance and pay a fee.
The proposals include two requirements for gun owners that no city or state in the U.S. has ever implemented: the purchase of liability insurance and the payment of annual fees to fund violence-reduction initiatives. (per Fox News)
Why It’s Important: While the measure has been proposed in multiple state legislatures across the country, this marks the first time the bill has become law.
What Comes Next: The San Jose mayor predicted gun-rights advocacy groups will likely challenge the rule in court.
“Why should any city subject itself to litigation? Because now-common horrific reports of shootings throughout the nation do little more than elicit a performative parade of prayers and platitudes from Congress. Because problem-solving must be elevated over political posturing,” he added.
“While gun rights advocates argue that gun owners should not have to pay a fee to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms,” Liccardo said, via the report, the “2nd Amendment does not require the taxpayers to subsidize folks to own guns.” (per Fox News)
