Texas Woman Sentenced to Life for Murders of Husband and Step-Daughter

[flamin lib]

165. If she is in control of her facilities, ie not insane, she is liable for her actions.

That is what it means to get a life sentence, she was liable.

Here's the deal with liability insurance. If I perform an act that harms others I am liable for the damages. In my home, in my car, in public. The exception would be harming someone to prevent harm to myself or others.

The insurance policies offered by the NRA and a few other companies are designed only to bilk money from the uninformed, not to protect from liability. Insurance companies can, and do, offer useless policies as long as they aren't forced by law to do otherwise. Take the ACA for instance. Prior to it's passage the insurance companies could carve out very specific demographics to cover, weeding out any risk they could even though they based premiums on the actuarials of the populace as a whole.

I can see exempting damages caused after the theft of a firearm (if it were reported in a timely manner) or for a gun sold and the sale supported by records. There should be no exemption for lending a gun to someone who commits a crime like the Boston Bomber or the San Bernardino shooters. The owner of the guns who lent them should be held liable for their use and the people who were injured need to be made financially whole. There should be no exemption for accidental shootings as there are no accidental shootings only negligence in handling or storing guns.

All this means that the insurance companies will need good actuarial data to determine the risk presented by the type of firearm, the type of owner and the situational circumstances. Is it a pistol or long gun? Is it stored in a safe? Are there children in the house? Does the insured routinely carry the firearm in public? Has there been formal safety training? I'm sure the insurers will develop a host of pertinent factors in determining premiums.

Gun violence costs the US $226 Billion a year. Those who own the guns causing this damage need to held liable for the costs. The only way to do that is to legislate the definition of liability for gun damage and forcing insurance to cover it.