San Jose passes law requiring gun owners to get liability insurance

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San Jose passes law requiring gun owners to get liability insurance

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The San Jose City Council has approved the nation's first law requiring gun owners to have liability insurance. City leaders hope it will reduce gun violence. Gun owners say they're being harassed².

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

San Jose, Calif., may soon be the first city in the U.S. where gun owners are required to have liability insurance. As NPR's Martin Kaste reports, this move by the City Council has generated a whole lot of debate, even though it's unclear what practical effect it's going to have.

MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE³: After three mass shootings in three years and a jump in the murder rate in 2020, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo says he felt he had to do something, but what?

SAM LICCARDO: Virtually every option available to mayors and cities to reduce gun violence is somehow or another preempted⁴ or precluded⁵ by federal and state law.

KASTE: One possibility - collect an annual fee from gun owners. It'll be in the range of $30. That money will fund services such as suicide prevention and gun safety training. But it's the second part of Liccardo's anti-gun violence package that's getting the attention - a new requirement that gun owners carry insurance.

LICCARDO: With insurance, we know risk-adjusted premiums⁶ can encourage gun owners to buy gun safes, to install trigger locks, the kinds of things that can make their families safer and make us all safer.

KASTE: But Sam Paredes says the mayor is being insincere. Paredes runs the group Gun Owners of California.

SAM PAREDES: Any way you put the lipstick⁷ on this pig, it is still a pig. It's still wrong-headed. It is unconstitutional.

KASTE: Parades believes the point of this requirement is just to create new financial and bureaucratic⁸ burdens for legal gun owners. And his group and others are going to court to challenge the law before it can take effect in August. Also, as a practical matter, Paredes says you can't get insurance for the kind of gun violence that most people care about.

PAREDES: There isn't an insurance company anywhere in the world that will offer an insurance policy to protect somebody who misuses⁹ a firearm.

KASTE: City officials say they're not requiring anyone to get insurance for intentional¹⁰ harm with a gun, just for accidents or negligence¹¹. People often have that coverage¹² already with their homeowner's or umbrella liability policies. So how much difference will this new requirement make? William Rosen is managing director of state policy and government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety. He calls this insurance requirement creative.

WILLIAM ROSEN: It also, of course, means it's untested. So I think, in a way, it can be a good model for cities. We'll certainly be following closely.

KASTE: One thing is already apparent - the San Jose ordinance¹³ sets up a new area of political debate and legal battle over what the rules should be for owning a gun.

Martin Kaste, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF ABE ROUNDS' "RUN")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 preempted   

v.先占( preempt的过去式和过去分词 )；取代；先取；先发制人

参考例句：

• A special news program preempted the scheduled shows. 特别的新节目取代预定计划的表演。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The armymen have preempted the powers of the local government. 军人已夺取了地方政府的权力。 来自互联网

5 precluded   

v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通

参考例句：

• Abdication is precluded by the lack of a possible successor. 因为没有可能的继承人，让位无法实现。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bad weather precluded me from attending the meeting. 恶劣的天气使我不能出席会议。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 premiums   

n.费用( premium的名词复数 )；保险费；额外费用；（商品定价、贷款利息等以外的）加价

参考例句：

• He paid premiums on his life insurance last year. 他去年付了人寿保险费。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Moves are afoot to increase car insurance premiums. 现正在酝酿提高汽车的保险费。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 lipstick   

n.口红，唇膏

参考例句：

• Taking out her lipstick,she began to paint her lips.她拿出口红，开始往嘴唇上抹。
• Lipstick and hair conditioner are cosmetics.口红和护发素都是化妆品。

8 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

9 misuses   

n.用错，滥用( misuse的名词复数 )；误用者v.使用…不当( misuse的第三人称单数 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用

参考例句：

• He misuses his horses by giving them loads that are too heavy. 他给它们过重的负荷来虐待他的马。 来自互联网
• He often misuses his authority to tyrannize his underlings. 他常用手中的职权凌轹下属。 来自互联网

10 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

11 negligence   

n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意

参考例句：

• They charged him with negligence of duty.他们指责他玩忽职守。
• The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.这次车祸据说是由于疏忽造成的。

12 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

13 ordinance   

n.法令；条令；条例

参考例句：

• The Ordinance of 1785 provided the first land grants for educational purposes.1785年法案为教育目的提供了第一批土地。
• The city passed an ordinance compelling all outdoor lighting to be switched off at 9.00 PM.该市通过一条法令强令晚上九点关闭一切室外照明。