California bill would force home owners, renters to report number of guns they own to insurance companies, government

On Friday, California Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D) introduced a bill that would require homeowner insurance companies to ask insurance applicants how many firearms they own and report it to the government.

The Residential property insurance firearms bill AB-3067 is an addition to Section 2086 of the Insurance Code, and would require insurers to "update the contents of their applications for homeowners’ or renters’ insurance to include the questions regarding the presence, storage, and number of firearms by January 1, 2026."

It would then require an insurer to "annually report the information gathered from the questions regarding the presence, storage, and number of firearms to the Department of Insurance and the Legislature beginning on January 1, 2027."

AB-3067's introduction into the legislature comes just months after the state saw its ban on carrying concealed weapons in many public places blocked by US District Judge Cormac Carney. The law would have prohibited people from carrying a concealed firearm in places such as public parks, playgrounds, and religious institutions, regardless if they have a concealed weapon carry permit or not.

In reaction to the bill being blocked, the president of the California Rifle and Pistol Association Chuck Michel said, "California progressive politicians refuse to accept the Supreme Court’s mandate from the Bruen case and are trying every creative ploy they can imagine to get around it. The Court saw through the State’s gambit."

In September, California saw its ban on large-capacity magazines struck down as unconstitutional by US District Court Judge Roger Benitez. In the decision, he said, "This case is about a California state law that makes it a crime to keep and bear common firearm magazines typically possessed for lawful purposes." He ruled, "Based on the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment, this law is clearly unconstitutional."

"The history and tradition of the Second Amendment clearly support state laws against the use or misuse of firearms with unlawful intent, but not the disarmament of the law-abiding citizen," Benitez noted.