SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Illinois has implemented many gun control laws in recent years, including a historic ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. However, state leaders believe there is more action needed to protect Illinoisans from gun violence.

"We are all acutely aware of mass shootings, school shootings. They offend our sensibility," Senate President Don Harmon said during a City Club Chicago luncheon Thursday. "I remind people regularly that there is a mass shooting every weekend in the district I represent. It just doesn't always happen in the same corner at the same time. We should treat these with the same moral equivalency."

Harmon told G-PAC President and CEO Kathleen Sances that gun violence prevention groups deserve thanks for their work pushing lawmakers to pass common sense bills to address the issue. 

Illinois gun violence

The legislation calls for the Illinois State Police to send the number of homicides and aggravated assaults with a firearm to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.

The Illinois Attorney General's office works with law enforcement on crime gun tracking data, and Kwame Raoul believes it is a critical tool to curb gun trafficking. Raoul said cracking down on trafficking and straw purchases of guns can reduce the total number of shootings across the state.

"I know the other ones get more of the attention," Raoul said. "But, the ones that happen more frequently and take more lives, focusing on the trafficking can go a long way towards curtailing those."

Lawmakers have a strong chance of passing legislation to protect survivors of domestic violence by removing guns from homes after an order of protection is filed. Under this plan, police would be responsible for removing guns within 48 hours after an order of protection is granted. Illinois law enforcement groups have raised concerns about storage for the guns and potentially sending officers into dangerous situations.

The Illinois House passed identical legislation in May 2023, but the proposal stalled in the Senate. Weeks later, Chicagoan Karina Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter Daniela were shot and killed by her husband shortly after she filed an order of protection against him. Their son Manny was also injured in the shooting.

"It's enraging and utterly devastating to think that if an adequate policy would've been in place, Karina and Daniela could possibly still be here today," Karina's cousin Monica Alvarez said in January. "How many more years must pass before lawmakers see time is of the essence?"

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upheld a law banning anyone under restraining orders from owning firearms. Advocates are now optimistic that lawmakers will have enough support to get the bill across the finish line during veto session in November.

"They surprised me in saying that we can in fact regulate at that intersection of guns and domestic violence," Harmon said. "And we need to. We're unpacking that decision now to figure out how Sen. Celina Villanueva's bill can be fashioned to fit very neatly within the Supreme Court's parameters."

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said the state also needs to close the gap on lost and stolen guns. He stressed that getting those guns off the streets is critical to reducing the amount of gun violence across the state. 

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