I don't think our nation realizes the true cost of guns. Murders are expensive at at least four levels: 1) to the victim; 2) to law enforcement to investigate the event; and 3) to the court system which tries the case; and 4) to prisons for incarcerating the guilty. The total costs can easily mount to millions of dollars for each event.
One key concept for conservatives is that of individual responsibility. A key concept for gun owners is gun safety. Should not gun owners be responsible for the potential costs associated with the improper use of their guns? Why should the rest of society who don't own guns be required to pay for all those costs? It is only fair for all gun owners to assume the costs of these events.
One way to do that would be to charge insurance on each gun. If a gun causes someone bodily harm or death regardless of who did it, the victim or victim's family gets paid by the insurance company which has insured that gun. In addition, government should be paid as well, since it is incurring expenses as a result of the use of that gun.
Failure to have gun insurance would result in long jail terms and hefty fines.
For back of the envelope calculations of what the insurance would cost, assume 300 million guns, $1 million payment per death and 30,000 gun deaths per year. Cost per gun would be $100. In reality, there will be many different categories ranging from hunting rifles locked securely in gun cases to concealed hand guns to AR-15's with large magazines. The insurance industry will quickly establish much higher premiums for some weapons than others.
The point of all this is that if people have to pay an annual insurance premium for guns, then people will have to make the economic decision as to the number and types of guns they want to keep. If the premium on an AR-15 assault rifle is $5000 a year, then the incentive to own such a weapon would drop significantly. That gun ownership will have an ongoing annual cost will dramatically reduce the number of guns in circulation.
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