SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — As the Illinois General Assembly convenes for the start of the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers will have the opportunity to build on the gains made over recent sessions by advancing legislation that would honor gun violence survivors and families impacted by gun violence by addressing cold case clearance rates and closing loopholes in current law that put domestic violence victims at greater risk of gun violence.
“Too many of mothers across the U.S. have had their children taken by gun violence, and far too many like myself wait year after year while never getting answers or seeing justice served,” said Valerie Burgest, a deputy lead volunteer with the Illinois chapter of Moms Demand Action and Senior Fellow with the Everytown Survivor Network whose son, Craig Williams, was shot and killed at a store in 2013. His murder remains unsolved. “Having closure is incredibly important for healing and breaking cycles of violence. We need to pass legislation to empower survivors of unsolved shootings immediately.”
Solving gun crimes is an important component in preventing gun violence, building community trust with law enforcement, and providing a measure of justice for survivors and family members who have lost someone from gun violence. Nationally, nearly half of murders and non-negligent homicides go unsolved. In 2021 in Chicago, which had its deadliest year in more than a quarter century, less than half of cleared homicides in 2021 ended with an arrest. That figure includes cases solved from previous years and cases closed with no arrest.
During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers have the opportunity to pass legislation to require greater transparency and accountability in unsolved homicides. House Bill 4753 would allow immediate family members to petition law enforcement agencies to review unsolved murders. Importantly, it would require law enforcement to communicate frequently with the immediate family members of gun violence victims. House Bill 4754 would additionally require law enforcement agencies to publish monthly data on homicides, arrests and charges, and cleared and closed homicide cases. This would increase the transparency from law enforcement.
Gun-related intimate partner violence is a devastating and lethal crisis facing women and families in the United States. Every month, an average of 76 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner. In Illinois, 66% of women killed by an intimate partner were killed by a gun.
Karina’s Bill, House Bill 4469/Senate Bill 2633, would strengthen the Illinois Domestic Violence Act and the Firearm Restraining Order Act to expand eligible petitioners for Firearm Restraining Orders to include dating partners and ensure that people subject to domestic violence restraining orders are swiftly disarmed.
The risk of a woman being killed by an intimate partner increases five times when abusers have access to a gun. States that prohibit abusers subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns have seen a 13 percent reduction in intimate partner firearm homicide rates. In addition to having guns removed from a home once an order of protection is filed, Karina’s Bill would also add intimate partners as petitioners in the Firearm Restraining Orders Act and close a loophole that would otherwise allow transfer of firearm ownership instead of removal.
Illinois continues to lead on gun safety. Illinois ranks third in the nation for its comprehensive gun laws. In 2023, following a historic election where sixteen Illinois Moms Demand Action volunteers running for office up and down the ballot won, Illinois passed the historic Protect Illinois Communities Act. The Protect Illinois Communities Act included laws to prohibit assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, facilitate better implementation and efficacy of Illinois’s Firearm Restraining Order (FRO) law, and address illegal gun trafficking in the state. Now, lawmakers in Illinois have the opportunity to pass much needed legislation to bring justice and closure to families impacted by gun violence, and our grassroots army is ready to work alongside gun-sense champions to make that happen.
In an average year, 1,719 people die by guns and 4,994 are wounded by guns in Illinois. Guns are the leading cause of death among children and teens in Illinois, with an average of 212 children and teens dying by guns every year. More information about gun violence in Illinois is available here.