Posted on 07/08/2013 1:36:04 PM PDT by marktwain
EMC Insurance is a firm that began a century ago as Employers Mutual Casualty Association of Iowa. Its products are sold in forty states and it claims to be one of the sixty largest insurance companies in America.
And now it thinks it can defy an interest group that does not like to be disrespected:
A new Kansas law allowing gun owners to carry weapons in public buildings, including schools, has thrust a major Des Moines-based insurer into the national gun control debate.For now, the Kansas schools seem stymied -- not by us "gun-grabbers," but by a well-established heartland corporation making a purely capitalist decision. However, that's probably not going to be the end of the story:
The EMC Insurance Cos. insures 85 percent to 90 percent of all Kansas school districts and has refused to renew coverage for schools that permit teachers and custodians to carry concealed firearms on their campuses under the new law, which took effect July 1. It's not a political decision, but a financial one based on the riskier climate it estimates would be created, the insurer said.
"We've been writing school business for almost 40 years, and one of the underwriting guidelines we follow for schools is that any on-site armed security should be provided by uniformed, qualified law enforcement officers," said Mick Lovell, EMC's vice president for business development. "Our guidelines have not recently changed." ...
(Excerpt) Read more at nomoremister.blogspot.com ...
You do not see thoughtful analysis like this on the left very often, especially about the effectiveness of the gun culture.
Of course there is the obvious misdirect, claiming that this is a "purely capitalist decision", which, even if true, means nothing. Capitalists make mistakes all of the time. They just have to live with the consequences, which is what makes the system work so well.
Any insurance company's exposure for the loss of life at Sandy Hook would be huge. An armed staff member who could have reduced that loss of life would have reduced their exposure, not increased it.
Bull crap. There has NEVER been a study that shows CC holders are more of a danger than unarmed sheep.
It would have been easy.. a statement to the effect that "it poses new possible risks, our underwriters can't yet assess it..hopefully we can lower rates in a few years.."
Worst place to be in between a Mama Bear and her Cubs...
Imagine a Conservative Women with a CCW volunteering at a school in Kansas and some sicko tries to come in and do something that would have a detrimental effect on her kid(s) and or their friends like the person who shall not be named in Connecticut did.
In the words of "Mr T," I pitty da fool....
Sounds like Kansas needs to revoke EMC’s charter to operate in the state.
Definitely worth the read, (which wasn’t very long, after all.)
Here is the opportunity of the freaking decade for some other insurer to come in and scoop up EMC’s entire book of business in one shot. No pun intended.
Right now, today.
Yes, and there are two other insurers who also have made themselves inviting targets(pun intended).
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/07/insurance-companies-make-risky-decision.html
“An armed staff member who could have reduced that loss of life would have reduced their exposure, not increased it.”
The insurance company assumes that either a staff member will wantonly kill others because he has a gun or that the gun will suddenly kill people all on its own. (Uhm...do I need the sarcasm tag?)
So I can only assume they're willing to explicitly state that they'll accept financial liability in cases where there's a shooting and someone wants to sue them and argue that their policy aggravated the loss? I mean, they estimate the risk is less this way, and repudiating BOTH risks would hardly be cricket, right?
Who are these supermen he's talking about? I thought they were our Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Sisters, Sons and Daughters.
The way I understand this, the insurers do a cold, hard calculation. Besically, in many states, if you have a sign that “weapons are not permitted”, you are implicitly promising protection to unarmed people inside. If you are unarmed, and get shot in the building, you can sue the lessor/owner of the building for “wrongful death” or injury and win. Insurance companies know what states this works in, how much a life or injury is worth there, and adjust their rates accordingly. Mass shootings are expensive in these cases, but that is what reinsurance is for.
“The way I understand this, the insurers do a cold, hard calculation. “
That would be nice if true, but I doubt that it is the case. In Kansas, EMC had pretty much a lock on the business.
Three community colleges have already found a new insurer. The report I read said that they will be saving $200,000 dollars a year in rate *decreases*. That means that EMC had a gravy market without much competition, and they are throwing it away.
Because of a competitive bid, EMC made a counteroffer, which included a reduced rate and a one-year exemption from their “no guns” policy, said David Wallis, an incoming ICC trustee.”
You have touched on a very significant issue that addresses what our country is becoming. Many Americans; and the more so called education many have and the more isolated one is in higher corporate management, political office or government the more this mindset is found, have bought the notion that those who wear a uniform that says ‘police department’ on it are by virtue of wearing a uniform, having a badge and graduating from a police academy credentialed specialists in violence and only such credentialed persons can safely handle firearms and deal with a potentially life threatening situation. This abdication to expertise by credential is common in our society but no where more-so than around issues of gun use. So called corporate and political leadership are increasingly composed of people who are physical cowards and fear guns qua guns. As such they see the statistics on national gun ownership as evidence of how brutish and savage many of their fellow citizens are and how only credentialed police persons can be trusted to deal with this menace.
Ignorance/fear of guns, class based contempt of normal Americans by self elected elites, and a culture in which the upper classes increasingly detach themselves from the culture and habits of rank and file Americans has led to this condition. America is more and more governed by those who know little of the rank and file Americans who make the wheels turn over and view them with a mixture of fear and contempt and some times hatred.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.