Lately a good and wise friend called me to express despondency over the latest slaughter of innocents in Florida by a deranged shooter with an AR-15.
“But I have hope,” he said, “because I just read of a great idea to bring this madness to an end.”
“Liability insurance,” he said. “We need a law that requires gun owners to insure their weapons, much as car owners have to insure their vehicles. Who is going to check background and rationality more thoroughly than an insurance company? And the premiums? An AR-15 is designed to terminate many people in a very short time. How much would it cost to insure that rifle? If you are 18? The cost would be outrageous! And, you would have to show proof of insurance in order to buy the ammunition.”
I immediately saw the promise of this idea.
Since it is apparent that most of the members of Congress no longer represent us, the People, but instead represent the interests of the NRA, the banking industry and the corporations, Congress could do no greater favor for the insurance industry than to require liability insurance coverage to own and use a firearm. The profit potential would be enormous, and the market unlimited. There are an estimated 101 guns for every 100 persons in the United States. A small premium would cover the shotguns and deer rifles of the mature, responsible hunter who keeps their guns secured, but a prohibitively high premium would be required, or coverage denied, for the unstable, alienated loner purchasing one of the 8 million AR-15s currently owned in the United States.
So my good friend and I (both of us gun owners) now forward this idea for consideration. Republicans in Congress, do the right thing for your constituency (i.e. insurance corporations) and pass this legislation forthwith,
Tim Price and Millard Cox
Ripton