Clinton AWB Archives -

USCCA Fined By Washington State

The United States Concealed Carry Association was fined $100,000 by the Washington State Department of Insurance. The violation was “selling unauthorized insurance that illegally covers defense costs for criminal shootings. ” USCCA also agreed to pay “$5,457 in unpaid premium taxes, penalties and interest. “

In a press release dated October 21st, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler (D-WA) said:

“We made two things very clear to USCCA,” Kreidler said. “Insurers must be authorized to sell in our state, and policies can’t cover illegal activity. These law violations are fixable, if the company wishes to do business in Washington state.”

USCCA and other such plans only cover you for viable self-defense incidents and not “illegal activity”. Even though USCCA made this perfectly clear, the Department of Insurance contended that there was no mechanism to reclaim payments made to members who were later convicted of a crime.

Anti-gunners love to talk about “loopholes”. The only loophole I see here is one that allows bureaucrats to make regulations out of whole cloth.

On the authorization issue, Washington is probably correct. Selling insurance in a state does require a license from each individual state and the District of Columbia.

Kreidler’s press release notes that USCCA could possibly still do business in the state.

USCCA could sell insurance legally in Washington by changing its policies to not insure criminal activity, and either becoming a registered insurer or by placing insurance business through surplus lines brokers.

Earlier in the year, Kreidler and the Department of Insurance went after the NRA’s Carry Guard program.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler today banned the sale of illegal insurance policies branded by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and will fine two companies involved in underwriting and selling them in Washington state.

Kreidler ordered Illinois Union Insurance Co. to stop underwriting the policies, branded under the NRA as self-defense policies. They are illegal in Washington state because they insure unlawful activity.

Kreidler also seeks to fine the company $102,000 for selling 811 of the illegal policies to Washington state consumers.

Kreidler also seeks to fine Lockton Affinity L.L.C. $75,000. Lockton Affinity is the licensed insurance producer that sold the illegal policies on behalf of the NRA.

“When it comes to insurance products associated with the NRA, it’s buyer beware,” Kreidler said. “The attempt to insure a criminal act is a rip-off for consumers. The policies sold are deceptive and dishonest. I would be remiss as the state’s insurance regulator if I didn’t shut them down.”

Kreidler, 76, is in his fifth term as insurance commissioner. He is an optometrist by training. He served 16 years in the Washington House and Senate as well as one term in Congress. He lost re-election in 1994 after voting for the Clinton “assault weapons ban”.

Dennis Burke And Gun Control

The fallout from Operation Fast and Furious cost Dennis Burke his position as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona back in August.

More recently, in the Friday e-mail dump that preceded Attorney General Eric Holder’s appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, an email from Burke expressed his anger at Sen. Chuck Grassley and his staff over their investigation into Operation Fast and Furious. He called them “willing stooges for the Gun Lobby.” His e-mail went on to say:

No commentary by Grassley on the lax laws, nor greedy gun shop owners, nor careless straw purchasers, and not boo about the evil gun traffickers for the Cartels. Nope. Just demonize ATF w/ a strategically-timed repulsive letter e-mailed to the entire press world before we ever saw it.

Burke later issued a groveling apology over his comments.

It should be noted that Burke is not a newcomer to the business of gun control. In an article in the Arizona Republic about the political ramifications on Arizona politicians for supporting gun control, former Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), a supporter of the Clinton “Assault Weapons Ban”, had this to say about Dennis Burke:

DeConcini credits Judiciary Committee staff aide Dennis Burke, now the U.S. attorney for Arizona, for much of the work in developing the ban, which became law during DeConcini’s final year in the Senate but expired after 10 years.

Burke also was Senior Policy Analyst for the White House’s Domestic Policy Council from 1995 to 1997. This time overlaps with when Elena Kagan – now Justice Kagan – served as its Deputy Director. It was during this time that Executive Orders were used to further extend the ban on so-called assault weapons and to implement the Brady Act. Given his prior work on the Assault Weapons Ban in the Senate, it would not surprise me that Burke assisted in this effort.

Looking at Burke’s background and his attitude towards gun rights and those who support them, I see this as even further confirmation that the intent of Operation Fast and Furious from the very beginning was to build support for another so-called assault weapons ban. I just don’t think it was coincidental that Operation Fast and Furious was centered in Arizona as opposed to New Mexico or west Texas where the U.S. Attorneys have long careers as prosecutors.