Yes, stores can require you to be responsible for your actions. If your actions cause something to break, it means by law you are responsible to pay for what was damaged. For instance, say a friend came into your home and was throwing a football inside, after you told him not to, and broke your TV. Would you expect him to pay for the TV? I would, because his thoughtless actions caused my property to break. I would be very angry if he expected me to file a homeowners insurance claim to pay for the TV. It is no different for a store. Why should they take a loss due to someone else’s carelessness? If they file an insurance claim the deductible must be paid, and most commercial policies have high deductibles, starting at $5,000. A large item would have to be broken for insurance to be any help. Further, it is a separate claim, separate deductible, every time a different person breaks something.
Many large chain stores can consider broken items a cost of doing business, but smaller stores cannot afford to have this attitude. They make smaller profits, so the loss of broken items comes directly out of those profits. This is why the stores post signs informing customers of the policy “you break it, you buy it.”