Bill would help protect domestic violence victims

In Illinois, individuals can file an order of protection in cases of domestic abuse, and a firearm restraining order in crisis situations where a family member has access to firearms and may cause harm.

Yet a gaping hole exists between these two mechanisms: Domestic abusers under an order of protection can keep their guns.

The results of this loophole are deadly. In 2023, Jose Alvarez was charged with fatally shooting his wife Karina Gonzalez and teenage daughter and wounding his teenage son. Just last month, Winston Elguezabal, who had been charged with domestic battery, killed his wife then himself, with two teenagers in the home.

Illinois has a chance to stop this: It’s called Karina’s Bill, named after Karina Gonzalez, and it would require a judge, when issuing an order of protection, to also issue a search-and-seizure warrant for firearms if there is probable cause the person has access to firearms and poses an immediate, present danger of causing injury to the petitioner or a child.

Yet the Illinois legislature is not acting with urgency on the bill. The state House passed Karina’s Bill, but the Senate has not moved it out of committee and might miss the opportunity to act on it before the current legislative session ends this spring.

Government is tasked with protecting us. By not acting to pass Karina’s Bill, our elected legislature is leaving us exposed to armed, violent individuals.

Please ask your state senator to support Karina’s Bill and ask Sen. Don Harmon to call the bill. This is urgent. Two-thirds of women killed by an intimate partner are killed with a gun. More than two-thirds of mass shootings are domestic violence incidents or are perpetrated by shooters with a history of domestic violence.

We can’t wait any longer to pass Karina’s Bill.

Annette Freund

Oakbrook Terrace