As the number of mass shooting events has grown, so have concerns over general gun safety control. Exactly how much control a state may assert over its citizens and their guns is a topic of hot debate. Gun control measures in multiple states have been criticized by pro-gun groups or even struck down entirely for being unconstitutional. For example, in N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, the Supreme Court ruled that New York's requirement for citizens to demonstrate a particular need for self-defense in order to receive a permit to carry a handgun in public violated both the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. Not all such measures, however, have fallen flat.

In October 2022, we wrote about a gun safety bill from the New Jersey Senate that, in reaction to the Bruen decision, proposed an additional insurance requirement for state citizens with a concealed-carry permit. That bill, adopted by the New Jersey Senate on December 5, was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy on December 22, 2022. The new law includes the following:

• New background check and training requirements for those purchasing a firearm.
• An updated list of locations where guns may be carried and where they are prohibited.
• Refined regulations concerning the sale of firearms and who may purchase them.
• An additional insurance requirement for individuals with a conceal-carry permit.

This article focuses its analysis on the insurance requirements for those with a conceal-carry permit.

4. (New section) a.  Every private citizen who carries a handgun in public in this State shall maintain liability insurance coverage insuring against loss resulting from liability imposed by law for bodily injury, death, and property damage sustained by any person arising out of the ownership, maintenance, operation or use of a firearm carried in public wherein such coverage shall be at least in an amount or limit of $300,000, exclusive of interest and costs, on account of injury to or death of more than one person and for damage to property, in any one incident.

The new insurance requirement applies to all private New Jersey citizens who carry a handgun in public. Under N.J. Stat. §2C:39-1, a "handgun" means any pistol, revolver or other firearm originally designed or manufactured to be fired by the use of a single hand. It is important to note that this insurance requirement only applies to those who carry a handgun in public. Merely owning a handgun does not trigger the insurance requirement.