[BoulderCouncilHotline] Liability insurance for gun owners

[Morzel, Lisa]

Colleagues,

Tonight under now agenda item 5B (firearm regulations), I plan on raising the issue of liability insurance for gun owners and if the city can require owners and potential buyers of guns to show proof of liability insurance.  I was speaking to someone from the hospital yesterday and he suggested this idea as generally gun owners do not have liability insurance and when gun violence happens as in a mass shooting or even a suicide, often it is the hospital who is left to caring for the wounded and/or dead (maybe that would be the Coroner's office) is stuck with the cost.  Liability insurance would also add a way to ensure accountability for proper use of weapon.    Additionally, if someone contemplating suicide didn't have access to a gun at the time, that person would have to go purchase a gun but before they could purchase such would have to obtain insurance first.  That might provide adequate time to reconsider.

In speaking with some about this idea, I received a copy of an email from a resident who suggested a similar idea with additional links. I do not know if this is better discussed and passed at the state level or a local home-rule city discussion but I offer this idea here as one we may want to discuss tonight and request further information on from our city attorney.

I assume something like this would require more time to investigate and may not fit into what we are considering tonight but I wanted council and the community to consider this idea.

From the email:
Has the idea of requiring gun liability insurance been discussed? I don’t know if Boulder could require it as a home rule city. I’m assuming it’s something that would more likely be considered as a legislative agenda item with the State.
Essentially, gun liability insurance gets private insurance companies to do what they do best – the actuarial task of risk assessment and pricing the insurance appropriately. It offers financial coverage for a gun owner who doesn’t have adequate homeowner’s insurance in case of an incident. It offers financial compensation for victims of gun violence who might not have any recourse without it. And it doesn’t preclude sensible gun safety regulation – if we’re ever able to get that passed into law.
 Some background:
2/21/13, Forbes
The Myth of Gun Liability Insurance<https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2013/02/21/the-myth-of-gun-liability-insurance/#c191c641028e>

·         This is a covert way of banning or confiscating guns. This is untrue.

·         Would this prevent anyone from purchasing a gun? Again, no…

·         Would guns still have to be licensed and background checks performed? Of course.

·         What about the second amendment? There's nothing about this proposal that would prevent you from buying guns.

·         Wouldn't this penalize responsible gun owners? The opposite is true.

10/4/17, Forbes
Insurance Companies 'Should Not Get A Pass' On Gun Violence<https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianahembree/2017/10/04/insurance-companies-should-not-get-a-pass-on-gun-violence/#e2ffe535277b>

·         …when selling a home insurance policy, insurance agents generally ask if homeowners own a dog or have a swimming pool or trampoline, since the risk of injury and death is considered higher if they do. But guns are far more likely to result in death or serious injury. An average of 33,500 gun deaths occur each year, including suicides and  11,000 homicides, compared to 20 to 30 deaths from dogs and 226 drowning deaths of kids under 15 in a swimming pool. Insurance agents don’t like to ask about guns…

·         Guns shouldn’t be exempt from insurance company scrutiny…

·         The problem is that homeowner policies are not likely to pay out for criminal acts…

·         A more effective way to use insurance to reduce the risk of gun violence is through gun liability insurance…

2/3/18, CNBC
Florida shootings may complicate insurance for gun owners<https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/23/florida-shootings-may-complicate-insurance-for-gun-owners.html>

·         Insurance company Chubb said on Friday that it will stop underwriting a National Rifle Association-branded insurance policy for gun owners.

·         The insurance aims to help gun owners cover legal costs when they use their firearms for self defense.

4/2/18
Guns in schools: Insurance premiums could present hurdle in arming teachers<https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/guns-schools-insurance-premiums-could-present-hurdle-arming-teachers-n859846>

4/11/18, CPR
You Have Questions About Guns. We’re Finding Answers<https://www.cpr.org/news/story/you-have-questions-about-guns-we-re-finding-answers>

·         Who, if any, of Colorado's lawmakers has considered introducing legislation to require gun owners to carry liability insurance, the same way we do with auto insurance?

·         We found no legislation being considered in Colorado. In 2013, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Illinois each introduced gun liability insurance legislation that might have created a system where insurance companies specifically screened for gun owner risk before granting an individual a policy. But those measures never became law.


Lisa

Lisa Morzel,
Member of Boulder City Council

303-815-6723

"We interact with one another as individuals responding to a complex haze of factors: professional responsibilities, personal likes and dislikes, ambition, jealousy, self-interest, and, in at least some instances, genuine altruism.  Living in the here and now, we are awash with sensations of the present, memories of the past, and expectations and fears for the future. Our actions are not determined by any one cause; they are the fulfillment of who we are at that particular moment.  After that moment passes, we continue to evolve, to change, and our memories of that moment inevitably change with us as we live with the consequences of our past actions, consequences we were unaware of at the time." The Last Stand, Nathaniel Philbrick

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