Karina’s Law: a step forward for domestic abuse victims

On February 10, 2025, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a law that could save lives. It’s called Karina’s Law (HB 4144), and it’s named after Karina Gonzalez — a Chicago mom who was shot and killed in July 2023 by her estranged husband, even though she had an active order of protection. Her 15-year-old daughter Daniela was also killed that day. Her son was shot but survived.

The law took effect on May 11, 2025, and it addresses an enforcement gap that advocates and families had raised concerns about for years.

Summary

Before Karina’s Law, Illinois already prohibited domestic abusers from having firearms when an order of protection was in place. The problem? Nobody was clearly responsible for taking the guns away.

Now, when an abuser is served with an emergency order of protection, they have to hand over their firearms immediately when served, or within 24 hours if the weapons aren’t on them at the time. If they don’t comply, judges can issue search warrants, and law enforcement has 96 hours to act on them. The law also closes another loophole that let abusers skirt the rules by simply handing their guns off to a family member in the same household.

Why It Matters

Domestic violence is one of the most dangerous situations a person can face. The numbers are stark. Women in the U.S. are 28 times more likely to be killed by a firearm than women in other high-income countries. When a gun is present in a domestic violence situation, the chance that the woman will be killed goes up fivefold.

In Illinois, gun-related domestic violence deaths jumped 63% between 2019 and 2023. In 2023 alone, the year Karina was killed, fatal domestic violence shootings rose 19%, and nonfatal shootings were up 27%. Nationally, nearly 70% of mass shootings have some connection to domestic violence.

Sadly, the most dangerous moment for a survivor is often right after they seek help. Filing for an order of protection takes enormous courage. If the abuser still has a gun after that, the survivor can actually be in more danger than before. Karina’s Law places the burden of enforcement on law enforcement and the courts, not the survivors.

How’s It Going?

It’s early, but there are encouraging signs. In Cook County alone, 148 gun seizure warrants were issued after the law took effect — compared to just 85 over the entire previous decade. Fifty-eight guns were seized.

That said, the cracks are already showing. Nearly half of those warrants were dismissed, often because survivors were required to navigate complicated paperwork. Rural jurisdictions are flagging real challenges too: officer safety concerns, limited resources, and difficulty tracking guns that get transferred before police show up. Plus, unregistered firearms are still essentially out of reach entirely.

One researcher at the University of Illinois, Rachel Jackson-Gordon, has also raised concerns that the 96-hour enforcement window may be too long to wait, given survivor vulnerability.

What We're Watching

Advocates are pushing for several concrete fixes:

• Move the warrant paperwork burden from survivors to court clerks
• Cut the enforcement window from 96 hours to 48 hours
• Require statewide training for all law enforcement agencies
• Create pathways to address unregistered firearms
• Mandate consistent data collection across the state
• Fund community-based organizations that support survivors

Karina’s Law marks a major change in how Illinois handles firearm surrender enforcement in domestic violence cases. Passing the law was only the first step. Making it actually work for survivors is the ongoing mission.

Resources

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)
The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence (Illinois): Includes a Karina’s Law FAQ and guidance for survivors
CAWC (Chicago metropolitan area): Resources for domestic violence survivors, including firearms safety planning
Illinois Legal Aid Online: Guidance on obtaining orders of protection
Illinois State Police — FOID Information: FOID card revocation and firearm surrender
Colton’s Task Force 2025 Report on Domestic Violence: Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority’s 2025 domestic violence task force report
Everytown for Gun Safety: Disarming Domestic Abusers: Research and policy analysis on firearm relinquishment laws