Do I Really Need Self-Defense Insurance?

Do you really need self-defense, sometimes called concealed carry insurance? If you take your self-defense lifestyle seriously, my answer would be a resounding yes. I'd go one step further than that and say that this is even truer today than it was just six months ago.

Before we move on, let me dispel a rumor really quick: We are not the USCCA. We have a similar name and are friends with them as well as the other companies in that space, but we are a totally different company powered by unique individuals. We do not offer self-defense insurance or a competing product.

Also, none of what I say here should be construed as legal advice in any way, shape, or form, because I am not a lawyer.

So let's discuss this … Why do you need self-defense coverage?

Because if you ever need to defend yourself with your gun or any other weapon, chances are good that you'll be facing criminal charges or get sued by the family.

As a side note, we've already covered the entire thought of “dead criminals can't sue” in a different article. That's a dangerous way of thinking on one hand, and nowhere close to being truth on the other hand.

Because even the most horrid of people have a mom or dad who loves them. Furthermore, investigators are exceedingly good at their jobs and technology is getting better all the time.

All that means is that your chances of getting sued by surviving family members is very good — which can be a bad thing.

So now that we've got that covered, let's move on to the actual point —

I've heard people who had to use their gun in self-defense say that the first part was the easy part. Meaning, the first part, being the actual defense of life, was easier than the rest of the stuff they had to deal with afterward. Let that sink in for a moment and then realize that in our day in age, many people, including lawmakers and judges, favor criminals over the people the criminals hurt.

I mean, all you've got to do is look out and watch as people burn down businesses and riot in the street as other people are getting hurt to see that this is true.

Then, you've got other people who have used their firearms for self-defense who never even pulled the trigger getting charges thrown at them even though they felt threatened.

It's only going to get worse as time passes and as the rioters are told that they're doing the right thing because nobody punishes them for breaking laws.

All of this, to me, means that we need to be doing all we can to make sure we're as good to go as possible on all fronts of the self-defense lifestyle. That includes training properly and documenting it (check out our smart phone app), as well as making sure that you're taken care of legally should it ever come to that.

At the bare minimum you should have a solid understanding of not only who your lawyer is, meaning that you've vetted that person, but a way to contact them at the drop of the crap. And, even better, is that you've got that person on retainer so that they'll actually help you if you need it.

Because that can get so very expensive to do, the next best thing is to join a company that handles the “coverage” (they hate to be called insurance) of your self-defense.

What this means is that you pay a monthly or yearly fee to be protected from certain things. Will it prevent you from getting sued or charged? No, not at all. What it does is hand off the actual defense in court to real lawyers who are best-suited to keep you out of jail.

It keeps the attorneys paid which is one of the biggest expenses, and covers a multitude of other aspects of court costs, depending on which company and program you go with.

This is also much cheaper than keeping a lawyer on retainer by yourself. Because these are “membership programs” you're combining the money you pay each month or year with thousands of other people. That way, when one or however many of us needs to defend ourselves have to use these benefits, the costs have already been covered.

It means that if you used your firearm legally, meaning that you did NOT murder someone out of cold blood or similar, that these companies (whichever one you choose) would come to your aid with as much money as is required (because all of this defense in court can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars) to keep you free.

So again, do you really need this coverage? I'll let you decide, but you're certainly better off for having it, than not.

To learn more, we've got a chart that we put together that compares all of the major self-defense insurance companies and some of the plans they offer. Please note that some of those companies do offer other plans and our chart is only so big and can only hold so much info.

You can compare them all on our chart, here.

Are you a member of a program like this? Let us know in the comments below.