New York Legislation Would Trap Gun Owners With New Liability Insurance Requirement – The Truth About Guns

Anti-gun New York legislators are at it again with a bill called A581. If signed into law it would require liability insurance coverage before a carry permit is issued or renewed. This would essentially tax gun owners, pricing the right to bear arms out of the reach of many low income citizens. As if it wasn’t already difficult enough.

Democrats in New York and at the federal level just can’t seem to get rid of the Second Amendment so they are forever erecting barriers to gun ownership by law-abiding people.

The proposal of a firearms liability insurance requirement isn’t only a question of cost for the gun owner, it’s also a question of accessibility. When we shop for auto insurance, for instance, we have several options to choose from. How many policy options do you think there would be for gun owners, especially after Governor Andrew Cuomo has already ran other insurance products out of the state?

In a normal market you’d be able to shop around for the best price. But we’re talking about insurance for something that politicians and the anti-gun crowd have worked hard to demonize and eliminate. Aside from cost concerns, how interested do you think most insurance companies would be in working with a state that has some of the most anti-gun policies in the nation?

How expensive would it be to provide liability insurance to residents who live under “duty to retreat” laws? Do you think insurance companies would want to insure people who are burdened with “equal-force” laws?

New York’s one-party government has done everything it can to make gun-ownership difficult and expensive for the good guys as they can, while simultaneously letting the bad guys out of prison. You’d be forgiven for wondering if New York legislators are working to create the most dangerous state in the nation.

But here’s the kicker. If A581 passes, it will be extremely difficult to find an affordable insurance policy that covers all the concerns gun-owners may have because New York legislators has already made it as onerous as possible for insurance companies to even operate in the state.

If you’re a gun owner and want to insure yourself for the expenses involved in a self-defense shooting, good luck. The Governor and anti-gun legislators have already labeled such common sense coverage as “murder insurance.” The largest providers, US Law Shield and USCCA don’t offer coverage in New York.

New York insurance law forbids coverage for “intentionally committed wrongful and/or criminal acts.” But who would determine whether the acts of a gun owner are criminal? And wouldn’t self-defense insurance coverage be an important thing to have during the legal process while any criminal liability or intent is determined?

According to state regulators, the NRA’s now defunct Carry Guard program “improperly provided” coverage in any criminal proceeding against the policyholder including coverage for bail money, premiums on bonds, attorney consultation fees and retainers, expenses incurred for the investigation or defense of criminal charges, and costs incurred by the insured or the insured’s resident family members in a criminal proceeding arising out of a self-defense shooting.

So to summarize, Governor Cuomo and the New York Legislators want to mandate liability insurance for anyone licensed to carry a handgun, with the penalty of revoking permits without it. At the same time, they’ve made it nearly impossible to acquire firearms-related insurance in the state.

I wonder what their goal really is.

The Second Amendment is not a privilege. It’s your right.

Dan Wos is the author of the Good Gun Bad Guy series and host of The Loaded Mic.