A girl holds a sign as people attend a vigil for the victims of a shooting at San Jose City Hall. The city has passed an ordinance that requires gun o

San Jose plans to be first U.S. city requiring owners of firearms to pay back taxpayers for gun violence

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2021-06-30 22:30:04

A girl holds a sign as people attend a vigil for the victims of a shooting at San Jose City Hall. The city has passed an ordinance that requires gun owners to compensate taxpayers for gun violence.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo: “The Second Amendment certainly protects the right of every citizen to own a gun. It does not mandate that taxpayers subsidize that right.”

A month after a gunman killed nine workers at a rail yard in San Jose, the city is taking steps to become the first in the nation to require firearms owners to buy insurance and pay fees to relieve taxpayers of the costs of responding to gun violence.

The San Jose City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to draft an ordinance that would order gun owners in the city to obtain insurance and pay an annual fee to subsidize police responses, ambulances, medical treatment and other municipal expenses related to shootings, injuries and deaths.

The amount of the fee hasn’t been determined, but Mayor Sam Liccardo said Wednesday it would probably be “a couple dozen dollars” and would not be charged to those who could not afford it. He said insurers have advised the city that including gun coverage on their policies would add little or nothing to typical premium costs.