Our Chicago: Illinois Lawmakers Pass Karina's Bill
Illinois lawmakers passed legislation named after a Little Village woman who was allegedly shot and killed by her husband in 2023.
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Investigators said Karina Gonzalez had an order of protection against her husband Jose Alvarez. But she and her daughter were shot and killed. Her son was wounded.
Karina's Bill will require police to more quickly confiscate guns from alleged abuserswhen an order of protection is in place.
Alvarez has since been charged in the murders of his wife and daughter
State Representative Maura Hirschauer of Batavia sponsored the legislation in the Illinois House.
"Prior to this bill, the state of Illinois and our FOID card system, has always recognized that if you are under an order of protection you lose your FOID card," Hirschauer said. "So, that has always been something on the books. But we did not have the implementation and the framework built out for law enforcement to go remove those guns."
Victoria Watkins is Vice President of Advocacy for Wings, a domestic violence service provider.
She shared the dangerous when an abuser has a gun.
"It puts the power imbalance in a greater disparity. Knowing as a potential survivor that your abuser has a weapon really just raises the stakes for your safety but can also raise the stakes for the safety of those around you including children and other family members as we've unfortunately seen," Watkins said.
The law sets forth parameters for police to carry out the search warrant says Hirschauer.
"One important aspect that we worked on with law enforcement was to make sure that they had the opportunity to modify the search warrants or take a look at the search warrants and if there's not enough information for them to do their jobs safely or if they need something else, they have time to do that. They have 96 hours to serve the search warrant once it's granted. And then additional, they can petition for an additional 96 hours," she said.
Resources for victims of domestic abuse:
Wings:
24 Hour Hotline
Connections for Abused Women and Their Children
24 hour hotline: 773-278-4566
Mujeres Latinas en Acción
24 hour Illinois Domestic Abuse Hotline:
877-863-6338
