The level of stupid in what you’re about to read is astounding. A NY Representative to Congress just unveiled a new bill that would require any and all concealed carry permit holders to first purchase liability insurance.
Before I point out the obvious stupidity in this, read details of it below via The Hill.
House Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.) has introduced a bill that would require gun owners to carry liability insurance.
The Firearm Risk Protection Act, unveiled Friday, would require gun buyers to have liability insurance coverage before being allowed to purchase a weapon, and would impose a fine of $10,000 if an owner is found not to have it. Service members and law enforcement officers, however, would be exempt from the requirement.
“We require insurance to own a car, but no such requirement exists for guns,” Maloney said in a statement. “The results are clear: car fatalities have declined by 25 percent in the last decade, but gun fatalities continue to rise.”
Maloney said auto insurance carriers incentivize drivers to take precautions to reduce accidents, but no such incentives exist for firearm owners.“An insurance requirement would allow the free market to encourage cautious behavior and help save lives,” she said. “Adequate liability coverage would also ensure that the victims of gun violence are fairly compensated when crimes or accidents occur.”
First, driving a car is not a right guaranteed and protected by the constitution. One could easily and accurately argue the constitution does not specifically permit the federal government the power to decide who can and cannot drive a car, but it’s certainly not a right guaranteed. So the fact that a member of Congress actually suggested that comparison is just stupid and absurd.
Second, the vast majority of gun violence is committed by criminals. Suggesting that gun violence and lack of liability are connected and somehow cancel each other out is equally stupid and absurd. If a car thief steals a car, how does mandatory insurance solve that problem. Are we to assume the car thief would purchase liability insurance before committing the crime of stealing a car?
Once again we have government trying to place new roadblocks to rights in front of innocent, law-abiding Americans and claiming that criminals will somehow follow these new laws while breaking old ones.