THE BUZZ: California already requires gun owners to have a safety certificate, background check, and go through a waiting period before they can take their firearm into their homes. Now, they may also be required to show proof of insurance. California could be the first state in the nation to require gun owners to purchase liability insurance under a new bill by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) that dropped on Thursday. The insurance policies would cover accidental or negligent use of firearms — not acts that are intentional or malicious — and would work much in the same way as car insurance. The idea, Skinner said, is to make gun owners shoulder their “fair share” of responsibility when it comes to injuries and damage from firearms. And some advocates say tying insurance premiums to responsible gun ownership could prevent reckless behavior altogether. “Guns now kill more people than cars,” Skinner told Playbook. “And yet, we require every car owner to have insurance to cover any costs of damage their vehicle causes to a person or property, but we don't require that of gun owners. Why?” Firearm insurance isn’t a novel idea — Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) had a similar proposal in 2013 that failed. In January, San Jose passed a city law requiring insurance, and the state of New York is also considering such a law. Skinner’s Senate Bill 505 joins a slate of gun violence bills up in the Legislature this year. The Golden State has some of the most robust restrictions in the nation, but this year, the focus has largely been on accountability after the fact. Senate Bill 1327, introduced in February, would create the private right of action against gun owners and makers. You might remember it as the one inspired by Texas’ abortion ban. As with any limit on constitutional rights, we’re expecting this Skinner bill to get some pushback from Second Amendment groups, who are protesting this kind of policy elsewhere. When the City of San Jose enacted their own gun insurance rule in January, they were swiftly sued by the National Association for Gun Rights. In the lawsuit, which is being led by Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, the association argues that requiring insurance makes gun ownership “cost prohibitive” for at least some residents, and therefore infringes upon the right to bear arms. Constitutional issues aside, there’s still the question of whether this will change anything. After the back-to-back-to-back shootings this spring in Buffalo, Laguna Hills and Uvalde, lawmakers are, understandably, looking for ways to make a difference. But requiring insurance could have varied results. Most people have some property and liability coverage for firearms in their standard homeowners’ policy anyway, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Insurers rarely have separate personal liability coverage, and when there are policies, they usually only cover accidental shootings and in some cases, acts of self-defense. Some say those incidents aren’t frequent enough to warrant coverage, and laws requiring insurance for gun owners sound better than they actually are. The infrequency of unintentional shootings makes the odds of paying out a claim so low that insurance companies “just don’t care,” George Mocsary, a law professor at the University of Wyoming, told the Trace earlier this year after San Jose passed its law. If reckless gun behaviors had a significant financial impact on insurers’ bottom line, they’d already be asking about things like gun storage and trigger locks, but they don’t, Mocsary told the Trace. But Skinner said even though some insurance policies exist, it doesn’t cover everyone. “If every gun owner doesn’t have liability insurance, then you and I are bearing the cost for any of the damage from that gun,” she said. If this piece of legislation is anything like the other gun violence bills we’ve seen in the Legislature, you can expect it to receive widespread support from Democratic lawmakers, who are heeding Gov. Gavin Newsom’s call to send him gun violence prevention efforts as fast as they can. BUENOS DÍAS, good Friday morning. Wishing you a peaceful and joyful Juneteenth weekend! Here’s how people are celebrating in Sacramento, the Bay Area and Los Angeles. Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “And if it’s not too much to ask, we also pray for the Warriors, a team rooted in justice and truth.” Sen. Sydney Kamlager, leading the chamber in prayer on Thursday. It seems like God listened. TWEET OF THE DAY: Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) @Rendon63rd calling for an investigation into the high price of gas: “Californians are paying on average nearly 40% more for gas than we did four months ago. We need to know why so we can take action that provides real, long-term relief.” Rendon is one of 25 members who signed a letter asking the Department of Justice, California Energy Commission and Legislative Analyst’s Office to look into possible price gouging at the pump. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
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