Gun Owners Furious Over Proposed Firearm Insurance Policy

Rochester, NY--    A bill being tossed around in Albany has gun owners fired up.
    It would require any firearms owner to have a liability insurance policy of at least one million dollars.
    The legislation is a two house bill which is required if a proposal has any shot of passing.
    Gun owners say it's both outrageous and unnecessary.
"I wish they'd get off of our backs," expressed Local SCOPE Board Member, Ken Mathison. 
    It's been introduced by down state democrat, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz. 
    Assemblyman Bill Nojay's district spans across Monroe, Livingston, and Steuben counties.
    He opposes the proposal. 
"You got these NYC politicians who want to tell us what to eat, how to live our lives, what we can own, you just wish these folks would go back to Brooklyn, or the Bronx, or where ever they came from and leave us alone."
    Mathison sees it as another regulation tactic.
"That's the purpose of the whole thing is to discourage people from owning guns."
    According to the legislation, the  policy would cover damages from "any negligent or willful act involving the firearm."
"Willful misuse or negligent can always be construed as illegal and no insurance company is going to be forced to pay up on an illegal act," said Mathison.
    The cost to gun owners is unknown.
"We don't know because nobody currently offers that insurance policy," Mathison answered. "It's not necessary anywhere else. We don't know what the cost would be."
Currently, a fire arm doesn't require insurance.  Any gun related accident on your own property is typically covered under homeowners or renters insurance. Accidents elsewhere are considered a civil matter.
    The bill has been kicked around for years and never gone anywhere.
    Although, according to Nojay, that doesn't mean it couldn't surface again this session.
"Nobody is laughing at things anymore no matter how ridiculous they sound."
    Calls to Assemblyman Ortiz's office were not returned. Governor Andrew Cuomo knew nothing about the legislation when asked about it during his stop in Rochester several weeks ago.