To ensure compliance with a new city law, gun owners in San Jose starting next year will be required to have an insurance policy for their firearms that includes losses or damages from accidental use.
City officials recently released information about what San Jose’s first-in-the-nation gun harm reduction ordinance will mean for gun owners.
Those with firearms must have homeowners’, renters’ or gun liability insurance coverage in place by Jan. 1, 2023, and be ready to pay a $25 fee that will be used for city initiatives to reduce gun harm.
Firearm owners can apply for a city of San Jose insurance attestation form to provide proof of insurance coverage.
The fee, which will be used to conduct services like firearm safety education, suicide prevention services and violence prevention programs, does not have a set date for collection, and is tentatively set to be $25.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said everyone who drives a car understands the importance of insurance to protect accident victims and incentivize safety. He said gun insurance can “compensate victims who need care, and encourage gun owners to use gun safes, deploy trigger locks and take gun safety classes.”
“That’s not insignificant in a country where 4.6 million children live in a home where a gun is kept loaded and unlocked,” Liccardo said in a statement.
The ordinance follows other efforts that San Jose has led to reduce gun violence in the city, like initiating gun violence restraining orders, banning unserialized “ghost guns” and cracking down on illegal purchases.
The full text of the gun harm reduction ordinance can be found online.