Reducing the Risk
The advantage of a marketplace approach is that insurance companies would have a financial interest in safety and in preserving the rights of gun owners, while gun owners would have a financial interest in safety and would have a choice of insurance companies. The National Rifle Association could have its own insurance company, or it could provide financial support and backing to a sympathetic insurance company. A program of bearing arms/bearing costs could have a plus for gun owners in order to block alternative programs in the future, like taxes to pay the costs of bearing arms or outright bans. It could have a plus for firearm manufacturers to avoid the civil suits that they lost after the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass killings.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives could keep a national database that included relevant legal matters and school disciplinary actions over the last several years. The background checks would be done by the insurance companies, which could consult the database for a fee if they wished.
The lowest premiums are likely to be for target rifles, hunting rifles, and shotguns. Premiums may be lowered further with the use of gun safes or trigger locks and with training in gun safety. Firearms for security, which include handguns and assault rifles, may have higher premiums. Data reported by safety advocates like David Hemenway indicate that more guns increase the risk of shootings. That suggests that the country will be better fortified against gun violence if we have fewer guns, and especially fewer assault rifles.
Those who feel safer with these weapons will still be able to obtain them if they pass insurance company background checks, if they can afford the insurance, and if they find an insurance company willing to provide the insurance. If Hemenway’s data is wrong the premiums will not be higher. If the NRA backs one or more insurance companies, the insurance will be available. Rather than having the government decide these issues, the marketplace will.