As Legislators Weigh Domestic Violence Gun Laws, Illinois Groups Act

​In 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled that people with a restraining order against them do not have a legal right to own a firearm. This ruling, along with potential legislation, has made it more difficult for those who have harmed others in domestic violence incidents from owning, and more importantly using, firearms against their partners or children. As the courts and lawmakers figure out the best approach to dealing with this specific issue, organizations in Illinois are taking a proactive approach to violence and domestic violence in their communities.

United States v. Rahimi (2023) set precedence for preventing those with restraining orders from accessing guns. Zackey Rahimi, a Texas resident, had a restraining order placed against him in 2020, preventing him from engaging in harassing behaviors toward an ex-girlfriend and her child. The restraining order also banned him from owning a gun based on overwhelming evidence that, without intervention, Rahimi might harm his ex-girlfriend and others.

Rahimi took the case to court, and SCOTUS eventually reviewed it. Ultimately, the court drew on precedence from a prior case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which assessed gun cases based on the Constitution's Second Amendment. It also considered prior legislation, the 1968 Gun Control Act and the Violence Against Women Act (1994), in making its decision. The Court ultimately decided that the Bruen case did not apply here, but the above-mentioned legislation did and decided against Rahimi.  

With this decision, Illinois state legislators have a foundation upon which to pass legislation. The latest legislation was Karina's Bill, named for Karina Gonzales, who was murdered by her husband in 2023. An October 2023 article published in The Trace, a gun policy publication, reported that Gonzales filed an order of protection against her husband, which authorities granted. However, before authorities could remove the gun from the home, her husband killed her and Daniela, her 15-year-old daughter, 12 days after Gonzales received the order of protection.

Karina's Law would have enabled law enforcement officers to remove any guns from the home as soon as authorities granted Gonzales the order of protection. As it stands, law enforcement can present orders to those accused of abuse, but they do not have the right to search the property and remove firearms. Karina's Law would have allowed them to do this quickly, but it failed to pass in the state legislature for the third time in January 2024.

While legislators and the courts find a resolution, organizations in the Illinois community are affecting change in gun violence in general. In Chicago, the Government Alliance for Safe Communities (GASC) infused $100 million into addressing community violence and implementing violence interventions, with more than half of the funding going to prevention efforts. The funding will go toward showing communities how to exchange gun violence for supporting healthy communities.

In terms of directly addressing domestic violence-related gun violence, Bloomington's Special Commission for Safe Communities, a group that studies gun violence, received results from a study on gun-related domestic violence. Recommendations include communicating among advocates, law enforcement, and those who experience domestic violence to get an understanding of what it might be like to experience this abuse.

Another critical finding was the importance of understanding the structural barriers a person might face in stopping the abuse. The figures are startling, revealing that in more than 90 percent of domestic violence-related fatalities, the women contacted the police at least six times on average in the preceding three years before being killed. Worse yet, less than half of those contacts culminated in an arrest. Furthermore, the study highlighted that, while legislators agree something must be done, jurisdictional conflicts make it challenging to empower law enforcement to confiscate firearms in these cases.

Also, the nature of domestic violence is such that it sometimes happens for a protracted length of time, which would require more than punitive justice. The commission suggested using the restorative justice model, which would involve mediation between victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. This model has worked in communities in Europe, New Zealand, and indigenous communities dealing with violent crime. With restorative justice, the partner who is victimized has an active voice in dealing with this trauma. At the same time, the aggressor must actively take ownership of their actions.

Domestic violence is a reality in contemporary society, even in one that has evolved considerably since the Equal Rights Amendment of the mid-1970s. According to an October 2024 article in the Chicago Sun-Times, partners who are abusive and can access a gun are five times more likely to kill their partner if she is a woman. Worse yet, on average, 70 women are killed by firearms by their intimate partner every month. Illinois, specifically, experienced a 110 percent spike in domestic violence cases in 2023, with 82 cases ending in firearm fatalities. These figures alone illustrate the need for legislation.

Judge Megan Goldish, Honors&Awards; ProfessionalTopics; Hobbies&Interests; Groups&Organizations

Shop