Maryland House Democrats introduced a controversial gun safety bill requiring gun owners to forfeit their ability to wear or carry without firearm liability insurance.

Introduced by Del. Terri Hill, D-Howard County, the legislation would prohibit the “wear or carry” of a gun anywhere in the state unless the individual has obtained a liability insurance policy of at least $300,000.

"A person may not wear or carry a firearm unless the person has obtained and it covered by liability insurance issued by an insurer authorized to do business in the State under the Insurance Article to cover claims for property damage, bodily injury, or death arising from an accident resulting from the person’s use or storage of a firearm or up to $300,000 for damages arising from the same incident, in addition to interest and costs,” the proposed Maryland legislation reads.

  • rekabis@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    This is a lot like insuring a vehicle. So they shouldn’t make it a flat insurance, which would be regressive, but tailor it to the capacity, ammunition type, and firing rate of the weapon.

    That’s what would make it a progressive fee - a basic Saturday Night Special or hunting rifle would be cheap for any poor person to own, whereas a military style machine gun would be cost-prohibitive for all but the wealthiest.

    They could even have extra discounts based on user certification and tested skill levels, with surcharges based on discharge accidents and situations where the gun was recorded being improperly brandished or carried.

    • werefreeatlast@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Like for a 9mm, which doesn’t really hurt that much if any. That’s just 2000 bucks. But for an ak47 which is scary from 5 feet away that’s $34,000 bond in case you accidentally pop it inside a mall parking lot and ruin a car. But for a small cannon you would need at least $1000,000.00 liability because it probably really hurts, and you could accidentally ruin a friendship, his wife’s head, the dog, an entire car tire, 3 rats, a large pizza, a squirrel and the bottom part of a giraffe…all in a single shot. Gotta be careful with cannons out there you know. Plus you can’t really carry those, you just sorta pull them around.

    • jf0314@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Why should all but the wealthiest be allowed to own an assault rifle? I think that’s a recipe for disaster.

        • jf0314@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Responsible gun ownership? No. Unfortunately, you have too many uneducated and irresponsible people out there that shouldn’t have access to a lot of things, much less guns.

      • olivebranch@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        Yeah, this bill is stupid. It just gives rich more power than the poor, like all bills. No matter the topic in politics, it always ends up as something that hurts only the working class.

    • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      The difference is that bearing arms is a right according to the constitution. Having a car is not. Makes it difficult to require insurance for guns.