Injuries resulting from accidental firearm discharges account for 500 deaths annually with more than one occurring daily. Additionally, 37% of total non-deadly weapon injuries are unintended with 2% of direct gunshot deaths being inadvertent as well.
These incidents are preventable and should be avoided at all costs. Approximately 25% of gun fatalities are linked to alcohol – a statistic as high as 50% for gun deaths among twenty to twenty-nine-year-olds. Over 8 in 10 teen-committed suicides are conducted with an accessible household firearm. Of all age groups, teens and adolescents are most at-risk for accidental gun mortalities as parental figures are less likely to store guns locked and/or unloaded than those of younger kids.
Firearm safes are a fundamental must-have for gun owners, placing a blockade between impulse and execution that save lives. The easy accessibility of guns increases susceptibility to mortality by suicide by 300%. Finding security in safes and investing in an emerging form of insurance, gun liability insurance, can lower this chance for you and your loved ones and keep weapons’ purpose of defense.
Where is Gun Liability Insurance Required?
San Jose, California, has been crowned the first city to necessitate gun liability insurance. Taking this monumental stride in firearm safety in January of 2022, Los Angeles is considering adopting the law in joining them. Gun liability insurance reduces premiums for the insured that are exhibiting good gun safety practices – further incentivizing firearm safety and having it backed legislatively.
Gun liability insurance covers two important aspects of firearm ownership for homeowners, with separate options for renters. First, policies ensure gun owners against loss and theft, both of which take significant financial tolls with high-value guns being bold targets for embezzlement. Second, gun liability insurance offers protection for liability in all forms, with some specific exceptions that vary by provider. Lastly, while homeowners are the eligible population for the majority of gun liability policies, plans with less comprehensive coverage, that still hold significant value and preventative coverage, are available for renters.
Among stand-alone gun insurance policies, intended damage tends to remain uninsured. Property injury from the voluntary discharge of a gun, crimes performed with stolen, but not reported, guns, and the retributions resulting from self-defense all remain liable. However, separate self-defense policies exist. Offered by insurance providers US Concealed Carry and Second Call Defense among other insurers, these protect acts of self-defense, in some capacity, whether they’ve been legally deemed as performed ‘with reasonable force’ or not. 31% of American firearm owners have presented a gun for self-defense, yet in more than 8 in 10 of these events, no shots were discharged.
In Conclusion
While many turn to gun ownership in pursuit of peace, the potential costs, physical, emotionally, and financially, put true peace of mind in gun liability insurance. With it, firearm owners can feel equipped to defend themselves and those nearest them without confronting the jarring repercussions of doing so alone. Providing financial, and with some plans, psychological and legal security as well, gun liability insurance not only incentives the safekeeping of firearms, but also full recovery from their use and misuse. Explore your options before you own and before you act, keeping safety at the forefront of firearm ownership.
