KARINA’S LAW FAQ

Karina Gonzalez was a beloved mother, sister, and daughter who dreamed of giving her children a better life by coming to the U.S. During the summer of 2023, we tragically lost Karina and her daughter, Daniela, to an incident of domestic gun violence. Sadly, this could have been prevented.

Karina and her daughter are among the countless victims of domestic gun violence who reached out for help by getting orders of protections but were failed by a system meant to keep them safe.

Karina’s Law was signed into law in February 2025 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Karina’s Law:

• Gives judges the option to require guns to be surrendered to law enforcement during service of an emergency order of protection
• Clarified previous law allowing a judge to issue a search warrant to ensure consistent firearm removal enforcement across the state
• Closes a loophole in previous law by allowing transfer only after firearms have been removed or surrendered to law enforcement or under certain conditions

Respondents were prohibited from possessing firearms if they were subject to orders of protection, but firearms were not required to be surrendered to or seized by law enforcement. Under the Firearm Owner Identification Card (FOID) Act, respondents had 48 hours to complete self-attested forms called “disposition records” stating that their firearms were no longer in their position. However, our data demonstrated that the majority of individuals did not comply with this law, meaning they still had firearms in their possession. However, this transfer process has changed under Karina’s Law (see below).

Before Karina’s Law, several loopholes existed in Illinois law that enabled abusers to keep their firearms.

First, the law required respondents subject to an order of protection to turn over their legally owned firearms to either police or another FOID card holder, but the enforcement of that law was on the “honor system,” meaning there was no enforcement mechanism to ensure firearms were physically removed from their possession. Illegally owned firearms were never addressed as part of this.

Second, the law allowed respondents to transfer their firearms to any other FOID card holder, like a friend or family member, even if they lived in the same home as the respondent.

And finally, the law was not clear about how firearms seizure or search warrants could be granted by a judge, like factors judges considered to grant it, the timeline of enforcement or at what stage in the protective order process that the order to seize firearms be granted.

An order of protection is a key tool aimed at protecting an individual—and their children—from an abuser who may cause them harm. Orders of protection deal with a host of needs for survivors of violence—whether the abuser can be present at the survivor’s home, care of children, child support, whether an abuser has to stay away from the survivor’s place of work, etc., access to records, removal of firearms, or who will care for a family pet. These needs are referred to as “remedies” in the law, of which there are 18 different ones that a survivor can ask for when petitioning for an order of protection. Orders of protection are tools that are often used to help keep survivors safe when they leave their abusive partners. An order of protection can be granted in emergencies for 14 to 21 days, up to 30 days for an interim order, or for up to two years long for a plenary order. The firearms remedies in an order of protection are available to survivors who have a current or former dating relationship with the respondent.

A firearm restraining order (FRO), on the other hand, is a court order that says that a person temporarily cannot have a gun, ammunition, or gun parts because they pose a threat of injury to themselves or another. The relief is limited only to firearms and typically last for a shorter period of time. A petition for FRO is not available to survivors who have a current or former dating relationship with the respondent. The (FRO)s intended use is when an individual is a threat to themselves or others and does not bear in mind the context of domestic violence.

Ensuring firearms were addressed as part of the order of protection in Karina’s Law means orders of protection are more trauma-informed, ensuring survivors can receive the range of relief they need as part of their initial court hearing.

Karina’s Law improved due process protections for respondents subject to the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, and goes beyond the due process protections within the firearm restraining orders (FRO) in Illinois. It makes clear that a search warrant cannot be issued without probable cause and provides a clear standard for ex parte or emergency orders: The court can only issue an order including the firearm remedy without notice to respondent first if it determines that harm is likely to occur if the respondent is given prior notice.

No. In the order of protection petition, there are different needs or “remedies” that a survivor may request and check off on the paperwork. One of these can be the firearm remedy. A survivor must check box 14.5 for the firearm remedy, and request if (1) they want the respondent to surrender their firearms, also known as a surrender order, or (2) ask for a search warrant to be granted for law enforcement to go seize firearms from the respondent. Even if a search warrant is granted, a respondent is still required to surrender their firearms within 24 hours of OP service.

The changes in Karina’s Law regarding surrendering or seizing firearms applies to orders of protection in civil court that a survivor petitions for on their own, and to orders of protection in criminal court obtained with the assistance of the state’s attorney’s office.

In civil orders of protection (where there are no pending criminal charges against the respondent), you are not required to have an attorney or support from a domestic violence advocate to ask for the firearm remedy as part of an order of protection. It is recommended you do contact an attorney or advocate to help with filing the petition for the order of protection and in arguing for one in court to improve your chances of the order of protection of being granted. To be connected with an advocate in your community who may be able to help you regardless of your income, contact the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline: 877-863-6338.

For criminal orders of protection, individuals will need to work with their state’s attorneys to request firearms relief as part of their order of protection.

First, the survivor must decide if they want to file an order of protection at all, and if they want to check the firearm remedy. We recommend doing safety planning with a domestic violence advocate or attorney to determine if asking for the firearm remedy (checking box 14.5) in the list of remedies for the order of protection is a good fit for your needs.

After checking box 14.5 for the firearm remedy, you must decide whether to ask for a surrender order, meaning the respondent is told to surrender their weapons to law enforcement at the time of service of the order of protection, or if you want to pursue a search warrant, where law enforcement can enter a property to search and recover a firearm. If you check box 14.5 and do not explicitly petition for a search warrant, the surrender order is the default. Once the order of protection has been served, the respondent has 24 hours to surrender all firearms and/or firearm parts.

If you are pursuing a search warrant, law enforcement has 96 hours (4 days) to execute the search warrant if it is granted by the judge, if there was a credible report of domestic violence made to local law enforcement within the previous 90 days. If there has not been a credible report made to law enforcement in 90 days, law enforcement has an additional 48 hours to review the warrant, request more information from you or the court, and either modify, correct or negate the warrant. After the 48 hours to review/modify/correct are up, law enforcement then have 96 hours from that point to execute the warrant.

After law enforcement execute the warrant, a return of the warrant must be filed by law enforcement within 24 hours. The return includes information about the execution of the search warrant like the date, location, and what items, if any, were seized.

The seizure/surrender of firearms last for as long as the order of protection is in place. Once that order of protection is up, the respondent can get back their firearms (see below).

It is common for survivors to have limited or incomplete information about what firearms respondent owns. You do not need to know all the details about a gun (s) for it to be removed. Size, color, and anticipated location of the gun within a property are helpful for law enforcement to identify what they are looking for, and accurately execute and return the search warrant. For example, “one small black handgun in the respondent’s bedroom on the ground level of the house” without identifying the manufacturer, model, serial number or other details, should be sufficient. However, you may be able to get a warrant even if you do not know those details. Law enforcement will contact the survivor if the information provided is not sufficient to accurately and safely execute the search warrant. Note: The law only applies to firearms – it does not apply to tasers or other types of weapons.

In order to get a warrant, you must be able to identify an address or vehicle description where you believe the guns are located. If all you know is an address, that should be okay. However, the more detail you have, the less likely there will be delays in execution of the search warrant and less likely law enforcement will contact you for more information in where the gun(s) is or what it looks like.

You will be asked to fill out information sheet(s) used by law enforcement to execute the warrant. This will include contact information for yourself or your advocate or attorney, a physical description of the respondent, days and times the respondent is likely to be at the property to be searched, and if there are other people than the respondent who are likely to be at the property to be searched. Please note this information sheet is not confidential and may be available to respondent or their attorney in the future.

Yes, the judge can grant a seizure order or search warrant even if your abuser has not used or threatened to use their firearms against you. What the judge needs to find is that (1) the respondent poses a credible threat to the petitioner (you) that is protected by the order of the protection, and (2) that probable cause exists to believe that the respondent has firearms or firearm parts to make a firearm, that the firearm(s) is located at the property to be searched, and that the credible threat to the petitioner (you) is immediate and present.

In short, the law doesn’t require evidence of the firearm being used or threatened to be used against you – it requires a credible, imminent and present threat to your physical safety. The credible, imminent and present threat to your physical safety may be created simply by your abuser having access to firearms.

A judge in one Illinois county can grant a search warrant to be executed in another Illinois county. The law allows a petitioner or the State’s Attorney to request that a property in another county be searched by the law enforcement agency with the responsibility to respond to service calls in the area where the property is located. This, however, can create more delays as search warrants get from one county’s system to the other.

A judge in Illinois cannot grant a seizure order or search warrant in another state.

Karina’s Law requires the judge issuing the search warrant to direct the warrant to a local law enforcement agency. This most likely will be a community’s local police department or county sheriff. Law enforcement agencies can also coordinate across agencies to assist one another if they need additional support in executing these warrants.

The law says that the service of an order of protection shall happen, to the extent possible, at the same time as the search warrant. The intent of the law is for the service and the search warrant to happen at the same time, but that cannot be guaranteed. To ensure this happens, we encourage law enforcement to short form serve orders of protection when executing search warrants.

When a law enforcement agency receives a search warrant in a civil order of protection case, there are two ways the agency can proceed:

First, if the petitioner has made a credible report of domestic violence to the law enforcement agency within the last 90 days, the agency receiving the warrant must execute the warrant within 96 hours of receiving the order.

If there has not been a credible report on domestic violence by the petitioner within the last 90 days, law enforcement has an additional 48 hours to review the warrant, and if necessary, request any modifications or corrections. If no corrections are requested, law enforcement must execute the warrant within 96 hours after the 48 hour review period.

There is also the ability for law enforcement to petition the court to modify or extend the time to execute the search warrant for up to an additional 96 hours. The court is required to consider any increased risk to the petitioner’s safety from the modification or extension of the warrant, any unnecessary risk to law enforcement that could be mitigated with a modification or extension, any risk to third parties at the location to be searched, and the likelihood of successfully executing the warrant.

Respondents can transfer their firearms to another person, but they can no longer make that transfer directly. Instead, after the firearms are either surrendered or seized by law enforcement, the respondent can file a motion to transfer the firearms to a third party at the next scheduled court hearing.

For the transfer to happen, the third party who will be receiving the firearms must have a valid FOID card, appear in court, and affirm by affidavit the following:

• They do not reside with the respondent in the order of the protection
• The respondent does not have access to the location the firearms are being kept
• The third party will not transfer the firearm or firearm parts to the respondent or to anyone who resides with the respondent
• The third party will maintain possession of the firearms or firearm parts until directed otherwise by the court
• The third party transferee will be subject to criminal penalties for transferring the firearms or firearm parts to the respondent.

This motion to transfer process cannot happen without the firearms first being surrendered to or seized by law enforcement.

When the order of protection expires, the respondent may request the seized firearms and/or firearm parts be returned to them, if they are not prohibited from possessing firearms otherwise. If they are allowed to have firearms, the firearms and/or parts must be returned within 14 days of their request.