(The Center Square) – Gun confiscation from subjects of domestic orders of protection is now the law of the land in Illinois.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 4144 Monday in Chicago. Legislators approved the measure, which originally started out as a bill dealing with fire hydrants, during the 103rd General Assembly’s lame duck session in January.
Karina’s Law is named after Karina Gonzalez, who was shot and killed by her husband in 2023, despite there being an order of protection.
State Rep. Maura Hirschauer, D-Batavia, said victims have the right to leave their abuser and file domestic orders of protection.
“And most importantly, here in Illinois, we value your life and the life of your families more than we value your abuser’s gun,” Hirschauer said before Pritzker signed the measure.
Illinois State Rifle Association’s Ed Sullivan said convicted domestic abusers shouldn’t have access to guns, but Karina’s Law does away with an accused person’s due process rights.
“How can you take away someone’s firearms without giving them a court case, but here we are. That’s what they’re trying to do,” Sullivan told The Center Square.
When someone is the subject of a domestic order of protection, their Firearm Owner’s ID Card is automatically suspended and they are supposed to relinquish firearms to either law enforcement or another person who is qualified to hold the firearms.
Karina’s Law requires police to confiscate the firearms and becomes law three months after being signed.
During Monday’s news conference, Maralea Negron with The Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence said the measure does allow for third parties that aren’t law enforcement to store the firearms only after police take them.
“There’s a process for those firearms to not stay with law enforcement but to go to someone else who the judge has decided is OK to have possession of those firearms,” Negron told reporters after Pritzker signed the measure Monday.
Sullivan said the measure still doesn’t address what happens if an order of protection expires or is dismissed.
“You can’t get your firearms back until you get your FOID card back,” Sullivan said. “And so there’s no easy mechanism to try to get your FOID card back and everybody that has tried to go through this for just simple issues, it could take months to a year to get your FOID card back.”
Sullivan said a measure to allow for quicker return of a Firearm Owner’s ID Card to someone where a domestic order of protection was reversed has been filed.
