The Great Gun Insurance Debate: San Jose's Bold Experiment

San Jose just dropped a bombshell—it became the first U.S. city to require gun owners to carry liability insurance. Sounds reasonable, right? Not everyone thinks so.

The Setup: Homeowners and renters with firearms must maintain coverage from an admitted insurer, specifically for negligent or accidental use. Violate it? Expect an administrative hearing and potential gun impound.

The Backlash: The NRA claims it’s unconstitutional—a backdoor tax on Second Amendment rights. There’s also a “harm reduction fee” that funds suicide prevention and domestic violence services, which gun advocates see as salt in the wound.

The Catch: Here’s where it gets weird—no major national insurer actually offers standalone gun liability coverage. A few small players like Lockton Affinity do, but it’s rare.

What’s Already Available?: Standard homeowners insurance (HO-3 policies) typically covers accidental shootings and theft, up to policy limits. Want more? Umbrella policies can extend liability from $300K to $1M+. Criminals won’t buy it anyway, so does the mandate even work?

Context: This comes after a 30% murder spike between 2019-2020 (highest in a century) and 20M gun sales in 2021. Similar proposals have failed at the federal level since 2012.

The ordinance is already facing court challenges. Stay tuned—this could reshape insurance and gun ownership nationwide.