There would be a lot less crowd-killing gun mayhem if there were a law requiring gun-owner’s insurance. The law requires car drivers to have liability insurance, so why not require gun owners to have the same thing? With their money on the line, insurance companies would want to know who they were insuring. Mental health, medication history, income level, job stress, children’s access, post -traumatic stress, whether or not they were picked on in high school; all the factors that contribute to gun tragedy could be screened. Then require proof of gun insurance before any weapons purchase. This idea has the added benefit of providing a private-sector, market-based solution to the problem of guns in the wrong hands. Psychological and income screening alone would price the pathetic loser category right out of the market, which could only help to prevent some of the more terrible gun-related atrocities that we have to live with in order to respect everyone’s 2nd Amendment rights.

 — Bill Wilson

Anchorage