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Concealed carry insurance is a form of financial protection provided by companies such as CCW Safe and USCCA.
If you get involved in a self-defense situation and have to defend yourself or your family, CCW insurance can offer fiscal recompense for attorney fees and court fees.
It can also cover expenses you may not think about beforehand, such as crime scene cleanup fees and even the cost of a gun taken by the police for evidence then lost in the system.
However, do you really need CCW insurance?
Surely, all of these extra costs are rare enough to not affect most people!
They may be rare. So are the times when you need to use a weapon in self-defense.
But if you carry a weapon to protect against those rare times, why not protect against what can happen afterward, too?
Do You Need CCW Insurance?
So, here’s the thing about the US justice system.
Being in the right doesn’t keep you from going to court.
It can make the court case quick and inexpensive, but it doesn’t stop you from being charged with a crime in the first place.
It especially doesn’t keep you from receiving a civil lawsuit by the family of the person who attacked you[1].
I know someone who had to use their firearm in self defense. The person who attacked them died. The family of the attacker blamed my friend for that person’s death, and sued him.
That court case was thrown out so they sued him again for a slightly different reason.
Thrown out again. Sued again.
If my friend hadn’t had concealed carry insurance then the financial weight of having to respond to three court cases would have crushed him. However, a little bit of money spent before the incident saved him a lot afterward.
There is no legal requirement to carry CCW insurance. In fact, some states prohibit it[2]!
But it’s inexpensive enough and offers such a large amount of coverage that concealed carry insurance can save your life from falling apart after you defend yourself.
Who Should Get CCW Insurance?
Whether or not you should get concealed carry insurance depends on multiple factors.
If you’re independently wealthy then you can just tap into your funds and don’t need CCW insurance.
You might not be independently wealthy but still have the ability to save a given amount of money per month in a self-defense fund.
This may or may not give you enough money to cover everything after a self-defense incident, so you’ll have to weigh the risks yourself.
Also, some states give you legal immunity if you’re ever involved in a justified shooting (such as Washington state[3]). CCW insurance is a less attractive option for people living in these states.
For everyone else, concealed carry insurance is a GREAT idea.
See which CCW insurance is right for you in our comparison of the top 3: USCCA Self-Defense Shield vs US Law Shield vs CCW Safe
Is CCW Insurance Worth It?
So, onto the costs of CCW insurance.
There are expensive concealed carry options out there such as CCW Safe and USCCA Self-Defense Shield’s that can cost almost $50 a month.
On the other hand, there are less expensive options, such as US LawShield and the Armed Citizens Defense Network. Those will cost you $11 per month or less.
I spend more than that on practice ammo for my CCW piece!
If you pay for CCW insurance for years then you’ll be out some money.
However, if you have to go to court, having the insurance can pay for itself 500 times over!
Carrying a gun or other self-defense weapon is to protect your life. CCW insurance is an inexpensive way to protect your life after the incident.
If you cannot afford $11 per month for CCW insurance then you should reconsider whether or not you can afford to carry a self-defense weapon in the first place.
Adding to the value of CCW insurance is the benefits that come with most concealed carry insurance programs.
You’ll typically get access to exclusive training materials.
Even better, you’ll most likely also get access to legal experts and attorneys who will be able to answer gun law and self-defense related questions.
If you’ve ever tried to navigate the swamp of firearm law information online then you already know this can save you lots of time and effort!
Conclusion
Technically speaking, the answer to the question, “Do you need CCW insurance?” is, “No.”
However, the benefits of concealed carry insurance are so worthwhile, and the expenses so comparatively minimal, that my answer to this question is, “Yes.”
If you’re going to carry a weapon with the intention of defending yourself, or even if you have a weapon at home you can use to defend yourself, then you also need to defend yourself from the threat to your financial health afterward.
CCW insurance is as expensive as you want it to be, with options from $7 to $47 a month.
If you cannot afford that much money, can you afford the liability of carrying a weapon in the first place?
