San Jose Enacting Milestone Gun Ownership Requirements
Gun owners will need to pay fees and own insurance.
In a first for the entire United States, the city of San Jose, California is enacting new restrictions and requirements on firearm ownership. The San Jose city council has voted in favor of measures that aim to reduce gun violence in their city, as well as make the owners of guns more culpable for any violence their weapons are utilized in. The measures received overwhelming support, with the only major opposition coming from gun lobbyists who claimed the measures violated their Second Amendment rights.
The measures, once approved after a final read-over next month, would impose two new requirements on all firearm owners in San Jose. Firstly, all gun owners will be required to pay an annual fee of $25 to maintain ownership of their weapons. All proceeds from these fees would be directed to a nonprofit organization dedicated to researching, reducing, and preventing gun violence, as well as providing relief to victims of said violence. Secondly, all gun owners must own gun liability insurance, which cover any damage caused by the weapon in question. Those who do not acquiesce with these new rules could have their guns impounded and face additional fines.
California city of San Jose set to become the first in the U.S. to enforce an ordinance requiring most gun owners to pay a fee and carry liability insurance. https://t.co/kBizJii4tg
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“Thank you to my council colleagues who continue to show their commitment to reducing gun violence and its devastation in our community,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said at the meeting, adding that these measures would aid in the creation of a “constitutionally compliant path to mitigate the unnecessary suffering from gun harm in our community.”
Local gun rights advocates have made clear that they intend to pursue legal action if the measures are passed into law. Liccardo noted that the council has already prepared legal counsel in the event the advocates follow through on this threat.