From Charlie Kirk to makes an attempt on Trump’s life, one business is making financial institution on the rise in political violence

In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the attempts on President Donald Trump’s life and other high-profile acts of political violence, business is booming for insurance companies that offer active shooter insurance.

Political violence was on the rise last year, and 2026 is on a “dangerous trajectory,” according to an April report by Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative. To protect themselves, organizations and institutions are seeking out active shooter and active assailant insurance policies, which provide coverage in the event of an armed attack.

The market for these products has doubled in the last six years, with annual premiums now at a total of $100 million, according to the Financial Times.

These policies typically provide coverage for property damage, legal costs and other expenses resulting from the attack. On average, clients are paying tens of thousands of dollars for policies that provide $1 million in coverage, according to Reuters.

U.K.-based insurance broker Blackthorn saw U.S. inquiries about its active assailant coverage triple over the last year, according to Julian Vero, the company’s managing director and head of broking.

He said Blackthorn saw a “serious uptick” in interest following last month’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, after which the suspect was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump.

“That attack with that lone wolf individual unsettled lots of people. It is not lost on us that there were lots of journalists and reporters at that event who were then reporting on it,” Vero told The Independent. “From the back of that, we’ve seen a serious uptick of inquiries coming to us about the active assailant insurance.”

The company also saw heightened interest after Kirk’s assassination in September, the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 and last summer’s deadly shooting in the midtown Manhattan skyscraper that housed the NFL headquarters.

“These events really lead to an uptick of inquiry, concern, worry and the need to protect their people by buying the active assailant or active shooter policy, which a traditional terrorism policy wouldn’t be covering,” Vero said.

Active assailant policies are designed to be “aggressor agnostic,” which means clients are covered regardless of the attacker’s motive, according to Blackthorn’s website.

These policies aren’t new — they first emerged in 2011 and grew more common by the mid-2010s, Reuters reports. As violence increases, so does their popularity.

“We’ve been speaking to clients, organizations, risk managers for five to 10 years about this risk,” Blackthorn senior broker Thea Grootenhuis told The Independent.

All sorts of groups have sought out this coverage, from religious institutions to nightclubs and even major real estate investment trusts, according to Vero.

Many brokers are also offering these policies to schools as shootings on U.S. campuses grow increasingly common. There were at least 78 school shootings in 2025, and there have already been at least 24 so far this year, according to a CNN data analysis.

But these attacks don’t appear to elicit the same interest in active assailant policies as other high-profile incidents.

“We certainly see these high-profile events lead to more inquiries to us, wanting our advice and help in this space, which, sadly, school shootings do not,” Vero explained.

In 2024, the U.S. saw more than 44,000 gun deaths, 35 percent of which were homicides. While gun violence has been falling in recent years, 2024’s total remains one of the highest on record, according to the Pew Research Center.

Now, it remains to be seen whether this heightened attention toward active assailant coverage will correspond with tangible policy changes to address violence in the U.S.

“It would be very sensible for lawmakers in the U.S. to study the data from these increased events and attacks happening, and work collaboratively with the insurance market and response companies and first responders to ensure that they are protecting their people in the best possible way,” Vero said.

Source: independent.co.uk