Recent mass shootings have awakened a large portion of the public to the dangers of guns and many politicians have responded. The political possibilities of adopting a mandate for insurance to benefit victims of gun violence have never been a high as they are now. If this trend continues, hopefully by a means other than more shootings, then it may become realistic to adopt measures on a national level.

The Mayor of San Jose, CA has a plan to require gun insurance in that city and has published an editorial on the Subject in the Washington Post. This plan covers “intentional acts of third parties who steal, borrow, or otherwise acquire the gun” but not the liability of a policy holder for intentional acts. It could be expanded to cover these acts by paying benefits directly to victims.

The Democratic candidates for Presidential nomination in 2020 have expressed positions for more regulation of guns. In particular, at least 9 candidates including Booker, Buttigieg, Harris, Sanders and Warren have expressed a desire for federal registration of firearms. A requirement for insurance could be added as one of the conditions of registration. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg have both pointed out the similarity of the registration requirements for cars. While car liability insurance is nominally designed to protect car owners from legal liability, in practice payments are often made directly to victims of car accidents. Car insurance in states with no-fault systems and with personal injury protection systems for uninsured victims such as pedestrians can serve as models for an effective gun insurance system.

To be effective for protecting victims an insurance mandate should follow three principles:

• Payments should go directly to victims or medical providers.
• Payments should be conditioned only on involvement of the gun and the needs of the victim.
• Coverage should continue if the gun is borrowed, stolen or otherwise transferred.

If licensure for firearms ownership becomes a national requirement, the example of cars shows that an insurance requirement could be an important component of effective responsibility. Similarly, workplace accidents–the third major source of deaths and injuries–are addressed with an insurance mandate. This is typically implemented with direct payments to victims on a no-fault basis and provides an informative model for gun insurance.