SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and advocates are calling on Illinois lawmakers to pass a plan to keep guns away from dangerous people. A proposal in Springfield could allow police to remove guns from abusers if survivors file orders of protection against them.

Survivors of domestic abuse can currently ask for 18 different remedies when they seek an order of protection. One of those options requires the abuser's gun to be confiscated. Their FOID card is automatically suspended with the order of protection. Although, in many cases, the gun is transferred to someone else with a valid FOID card in the home. 

"Right now, the order of protection process is failing too many survivors and their families," Rep. Maura Hirschauer (D-Batavia) told WAND News. "It is critically important that we get this bill passed so that judges and law enforcement have clarity to go in there and get guns out of the home in these types of situations." 

Hirschauer included this change in a gun control omnibus bill that passed out of the House this spring before stalling in the Senate. Just weeks after session ended, Chicagoan Karina Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter were shot and killed by her husband Jose Alvarez shortly after an order of protection was granted against him. Their son Manny was also injured in the shooting.

"When you go to the courts and you're looking for firearm relief in an order of protection because you fear for your safety or the safety of your children, we are trying to strengthen the law to protect you in those cases and make sure that the system is not failing those survivors who are going to the courts and feeling a false sense of safety and protection from our courts," said Maralea Negron, policy director for The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence.

Research conducted by The Network in 2021 found that roughly 11,000 people in Illinois had their FOID cards revoked. Yet, Negron said only 4,000 of those Illinoisans filed the official paperwork with Illinois State Police to confirm their guns were transferred to another valid FOID card holder.

Illinois Domestic Violence

The risk of intimate partner homicides increase 500% when abusers have access to a gun, according to The Network Advocating Against Domestic Violence.

Negron told WAND News that law enforcement will play a critical role in enforcing this change. Police could be responsible for removing the firearms within 48 hours after an order of protection is granted.

"Our goal here is to make sure that everyone is safe in this situation, and that includes law enforcement," Hirschauer said.

Sponsors said they're still negotiating with sheriffs to ensure police have the tools, technology and space they need to take the weapons safely. A key component of that will be storage for the guns. 

House Republican lawmakers previously said they were concerned that such a plan would be an unfunded mandate for law enforcement. Although, advocates feel they have found a common sense solution.

"The most recent version that we have does have a provision worked in there to address some of those concerns to allow for law enforcement to partner with federally licensed dealers to store those firearms," Negron explained.

Hirschauer hopes to see bipartisan support for the plan during veto session. Lawmakers will be in Springfield from October 24-26 and November 7-9.

"We've had so many good quality conversations with folks on both sides of the issue," Hirschauer noted. "I'm really looking forward to veto session, watching the Senate get this passed through and hopefully concurring with it on the House floor."

Sen. Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) is the chief sponsor of the legislation in the Senate.

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