"We have to act to protect our communities. This proposal is not simply about stopping gun violence tomorrow. It is about ensuring that the public no longer pays for the cost of gun violence."
Gun owners should be held to the same "harm reduction" standards and requirements as drivers, Liccardo said.
"We've saved many lives in this country by requiring that drivers buy auto insurance to better allocate the costs of harm from collisions and to encourage drivers to engage in safer behavior," he said. "There is no reason why we should not similarly require owners of guns to do the same. We know that gun ownership is an inherently dangerous activity and we know that there are things that gun owners can do to ensure that their possession of guns is safer."
Insurance and taxes can both help incentivize or discourage different kinds of behavior, Liccardo added.
"I mean for example, even if a 19-year-old is allowed under a particular state's law to purchase a semi-automatic weapon, an insurance company might appropriately set the cost of insurance," he said. "That would make it prohibitively expensive for someone who should not have a gun to have one."
Liccardo also noted the effectiveness of steep tobacco taxes in curbing smoking rates and covering the costs of related public health services.
"We tax tobacco consumption both to discourage risky behavior and to make sure non-smokers are not forced to subsidize the substantial public health costs generated by smoking-related illnesses and deaths," he said.
