imaginary family values presents
yesh omrim
a blog that reclines to the left
Laws are like sausages; sometimes they contain traces of lead
22 December 2009
The “Manager’s Amendment” that gave Senator Reid his sixtieth vote for cloture on health care reform includes a new subsection, 2717(c), headlined “Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights”. Agencies or activities empowered by this law may not collect information on the lawful ownership, possession, or use of firearms, and insurers may not charge higher premiums to gun owners. (The precise text begins on page 5 of this PDF document.)
Presumably this was pushed into the bill as a response to the unsubstantiated rumor that health care reform was yet another facet of the Obama Administration’s sinister plan to take our guns away from our cold neuropathic hands.
I should note that as far as I know, in most states, nothing prevents insurers right now from charging lower premiums to the unarmed. If being a victim of domestic violence can count as a pre-existing condition, anything is possible, right? But my Google-fu is not strong enough to determine if anyone currently does this.
see the Senate Democrats’ page for links to the full act and the amendment