Tuesday, October 18th, 2016 — After several mass shootings across the U.S. — in Orlando, San Bernardino, Charleston and elsewhere that, whatever the motivation, created terror — the insurance industry is responding with new “standalone terrorism” coverage. Does this reflect a level of acceptance of such incidents, and of gun violence, as a “new normal,” something we’ll just need to live with? I don’t think so. In fact, the responses of insurers illustrate their key role: helping individuals, businesses and other organizations deal with unforeseen harm and tragedy, and recover from it.