Massachusetts bill would require gun liability insurance

[AtheistCrusader]

101. Still not articulating a principle by which one is more dangerous than the other.

Defunct vehicle is now in a garage. Or a barn. Taken out by 'freshman friend' for a joy ride on the back 40, Or on a lift being restored, and comes crashing down..

It need not obviously be in a person's yard, and it need not even be turned on.

Here in WA, we have no link between our CPL's, and liability insurance. I carry extra insurance because its the prudent thing to do. (And not very expensive at all, actually.)

There is a clear and logical link between requiring liability insurance to carry in public. I'd back you to the whole way creating a legal link between CPL, and even open carry (legal in WA) in public spaces, to require liability insurance.

Requiring said insurance for ownership of a firearm that is not being carried in public has no legal or historical precedent. There is no logical basis.

Want to require safe storage? Ok, now we can draw a parallel that works (pools). I'd support that too. Put your goddamn guns in a safe, lock the trigger shrouds, etc. We can require that. Hell, we could require that via interstate commerce. Illicit trade of guns crosses state boundaries. If they can regulate a single pot plant in someone's basement via interstate commerce, we can regulate guns as well, for things like safe storage.

There are some novel mechanisms by which we can make inroads on this problem. Others... not so much. And some of those others might open an unpleasant can of worms, since we are talking about an enumerated, and court recognized civil right. How about liability insurance to post on the internet, where you could defame, or libel someone? Probably see that in the UK before you see it here, but yes, you can damage a person monetarily, via a simple first amendment issue statement. Can we require liability insurance for twitter statements? You are suggesting we probe the murk with our bare hands here, and see what we find. I'll pass. I like my hands intact. There are innumerable things we can do, that have already been tried and tested by legislatures, congress, and the courts. Lets do those. Then we can explore strange stuff like this. (that liability insurance requirement would not have saved the friend of your freshman co-student.)