Take Action: Gun Violence Prevention
3/18/24
Action Required
Protect domestic violence survivors! Take a minute to submit a witness slip supporting HB4469, also known as Karina’s Bill, by 4 pm on Thursday, March 21.
Karina’s Bill would authorize judges to issue search warrants with orders of protection to remove guns from the hands of abusers.
Witness slips are a quick and easy way to help show support for the bill. Here are some tips:
In Section I, fill out your information. In the 'Firm/Business or Agency' and 'Title' boxes, enter "Self"
In Section II Representation, enter “Self” into the box
In Section III Position, mark "Proponent"
In Section IV Testimony, mark "Record of Appearance Only"
The Illinois House Judiciary Criminal Committee will meet Thursday, March 21, at 4:00 pm to discuss HB4469.
Background
On July 3, 2023, Karina Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter Daniela were shot and killed by Karina’s husband, even though she was granted an order of protection that could have led to the removal of his firearm by law enforcement.
Gun laws that protect domestic violence survivors are common sense and needed.
Risk of intimate-partner homicide increases 500% when abusers have access to a gun, and leaving a domestic violence relationship is a period of high risk – especially when survivors file an order of protection with the courts.
When domestic violence survivors go to the courts for protection, we must ensure that protection works.
Court-ordered protection from firearms in the home is applied inconsistently and ineffectively across the state. Even when survivors are granted an order of protection, law enforcement often does not have a clear directive to remove a firearm from the home. Revoking a FOID card does not mean the threat from the firearm has been resolved.
With Karina’s Bill, the law will be clarified and strengthened to require a firearm be removed from a home when a DV survivor is granted an order of protection with the firearm remedy. Karina’s Bill also adds dating partners and ex-dating partners as petitioners in the Firearm Restraining Orders Act. The legislation also closes a loophole that would otherwise allow transfer of firearm ownership instead of removal per a relevant order of protection.
LEAGUE POSITION
The League believes that the proliferation of handguns and automatic/semi-automatic assault weapons in the United States presents a clear and unequivocal danger to public safety. We support strong measures to restrict or prohibit ownership of these weapons by private citizens. The League supports regulating firearms for consumer safety.
We support enforcement of strict penalties for the improper possession of and crimes committed with firearms and allocation of resources to better regulate and monitor gun dealers.