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Just like owning a car, for every gun owned, the owner should be required to show proof of gun insurance before the gun is released from the arms dealer. The owner must show proof of insurance immediately upon use of the gun anywhere other than a firing range or hunting trip and show proof of insurance immediately when asked. Failure to do so means immediate removal and impoundment of the gun and a fine in the thousands of dollars and possible imprisonment. If a gun owner fails to renew a policy, insurance agencies must immediately report this to authorities who will verify with the gun owner the location of the gun. If still in the owner's possession, the gun will be confiscated. If not in the owner's possession, the owner must immediately show proof of what happened to the gun. If not, the owner should have all other guns removed, be fined and imprisoned. Safeguards should be put in place to avoid gun owners filing false reports that the gun was stolen, lost or damaged in a fire, flood, tornado or hurricane.Guns should have titles and registration so the overseeing agency can be listed as lienholder so that notices go to the overseeing agency and no sale can take place without the signed approval of the overseeing agency.
All of this will make gun ownership much more expensive and provide revenue to insurance agencies and governments who can get some or all of the registration and title fees and add other administrative fees. Gun ownership should not be as cheap as computers and phones.
All ammunition sales should go into a national database that links the ammunition to the gun and owner. Ammunition can only be sold to owners who show proof of their identity and whose gun shows in the national registry and is in good standing. The software should flag any suspicious activity of gun and ammo purchases.
Also, before gun insurance can be issued, all gun owners should be required to show proof of completing a certified gun safety course and shooting range and show proof of having purchased a certified lockbox for the gun. This certification should expire every two years.Of course reporting and compliance requirements and fees will be put on arms dealers and manufacturers who will be subject to fines, loss of license and imprisonment and higher insurance costs for noncompliance because the arms owner, arms dealer and arms manufacturer should all be liable to be sued against their insurance policies and personal assets for improper use, transfer, disposition and storage of guns.
Owning more than one gun should be required to be justified and strict limits on numbers and types of guns should be enforced. We really don't need a huge gun industry, anymore than we need ice deliveries, cassette tapes, telegraphs, mimeographs, typewriters, rotary dial phones and a glut of lawyers. Arms dealers and manufacturers can go into the lockbox, shooting range and gun safety course businesses as additional revenue streams.Do you want responsible gun ownership or not? Or do you want to say “responsible gun ownership” as an empty slogan the way “drink responsibly” is used while doing everything to encourage lots of drinking?
Additional Thoughts
1. Gun manufacturers should have to account for the transfer of all guns. So also should any distributor, wholesaler and retailer.2. Insurance should be required for all government agencies and private businesses that allow the carrying of a firearm as part of the job. Along these same lines, insurance should also cover other deadly and harmful weapons such as tasers and nightsticks.
