The main reason this bill will go nowhere, just as the attempts to pass such legislation at the state level have gone nowhere, is that the insurance industry is opposed to the whole idea.
At least two industry trade groups* have come out against the bill, on the grounds that:
- as written, it would require them to cover liability for illegal acts, and they're not about to do that;
- if it were rewritten to exclude illegal acts, it would be pointless, as accidents account for about 2% of gun deaths;
- the government can require the purchase of such insurance, but it can't require insurers to offer it;
- it could backfire by encouraging negligence on the part of gun owners who are covered.
Given that the insurance industry has a very powerful lobby, and that the government has a long history of bending over backward to accommodate it, this is way, way down on the list of things I'm worried about.
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* The Insurance Information Institute, and the American Insurance Association.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politic...r-gun-violence
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/...ity-insurance/