Illinois bill requiring police to confiscate guns in orders of protection debated

After the first week of fall veto session at the Illinois statehouse, no action was taken on a measure that would require police to confiscate firearms from subjects of domestic violence orders of protection.

Current law allows for those with an OP against them to relinquish their firearms to a third party that has a valid Firearm Owners ID card. A proposed measure from Democrats, including state Rep. Maura Hirschauer, would require police to confiscate firearms in such cases. Hirschauer said the focus is on a “dangerous point in time.”

“Where petitioners are worried for their safety and law enforcement and judges need clarity to go in there and take guns away from dangerous people,” Hirschauer told The Center Square.

Illinois Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Jim Kaitschuk said law enforcement cares deeply about victims of domestic violence, but they have concerns about the bill.

“We’re just making sure that as part of this process that what we’re doing is giving due process to all those people involved,” Kaitschuk told The Center Square.

Not only are there due process and officer safety concerns, Kaitschuk said there are concerns about the limited storage space law enforcement agencies have to store confiscated firearms.

“Under this scenario we would then be taking all of these weapons and in some cases there are a lot of emergency orders of protections that are issued,” he said.

Pushing for her measure to require police to confiscate such firearms, Hirschauer said she is hopeful the measure will get across the finish line during veto session.

“We anticipate that the final week of veto will be incredibly jam packed, but we are still moving forward with conversations because it is such an important piece of legislation,” she said.

Both the Illinois House and Senate are off next week. They return for the final three days of session Nov. 7.