Karina's Law and 2025 Gun Safety Bills

Governor JB Pritzker signed Karina's Law on February 10, 2025. It strengthens the enforcement of firearm surrender requirements in domestic violence cases. HB 1373, the eTrace requirement, was signed on July 28, 2025. HB 4500, the terminology change, was signed on August 9, 2024 and took effect January 1, 2025.^[1]

Karina's Law

Karina's Law, signed in February 2025 and effective May 11, 2025, added search warrant procedures for firearms surrender in domestic violence cases.^[1]

Under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act's petition procedure, law enforcement must execute the search warrant within 96 hours of receipt when the court finds that the petitioner made a credible report of domestic violence to local law enforcement within the previous 90 days. If the court finds that the petitioner has not made such a report, the agency must evaluate the warrant within 48 hours of receipt, seek any corrections and, if applicable, add to or negate the warrant. A changed warrant must be executed within 96 hours after the correction is issued. The court may extend the execution deadline by no more than 96 hours. The Code of Criminal Procedure also provides a separate warrant procedure with a deadline of 96 hours after issuance.

The law requires the agency to file a return of the warrant within 24 hours of execution, stating the time, date and location of execution and what items were seized. If the court is not in session, the return information must be returned on the next date the court is in session.

HB 1373: eTrace Requirement

HB 1373 requires every law enforcement agency in Illinois to participate in the federal firearms tracing platform eTrace, operated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). eTrace is ATF's web-based firearms tracing system for accredited law enforcement agencies. A trace follows a crime gun from its manufacture or import through wholesalers and retailers to identify an unlicensed purchaser.^[2]

Before HB 1373, Section 24-8 required law enforcement to use the National Tracing Center when appropriate, but did not expressly require use of eTrace.

HB 4500: Terminology Change

HB 4500 renamed offenses from "use" to "possession" throughout the Illinois Criminal Code, including "unlawful use of weapons" in Section 24-1, now "unlawful possession of weapons", and "aggravated unlawful use of a weapon" in Section 24-1.6, now "aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon". The reclassification updates offense names without changing the underlying prohibited conduct or the penalty structure.^[3]

Context and Significance

The 2025 gun safety package follows a series of significant firearms legislation in Illinois, including the Protect Illinois Communities Act (2023) and the Safe Gun Storage Act (also signed in 2025, effective January 1, 2026).