Push to curb domestic violence in Illinois

SPRINGFIELD (WGEM) – Illinois lawmakers are renewing their focus on curbing domestic violence in the state.

The renewed focus comes after what police are calling a murder-suicide last week in Villa Park involving a man on pretrial release after a domestic violence arrest.

Police found Winston Elguezabal and his wife Julie dead on April 26 following an apparent murder-suicide. Winston Elguezabal was on pretrial release after a recent domestic violence arrest.

Under the Pretrial Fairness Act portion of the SAFE-T Act, people accused of domestic violence are presumed to be released while awaiting trial. They can be held but the prosecution is required to file a motion and prove they’re too dangerous to be on the streets.

State Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove, wants to change that.

“We want to get serious about domestic violence, domestic abusers, those who are causing bodily harm to women and children, the victims of domestic violence, we need to flip that presumption,” he said. “My legislation is very simple in nature, the presumption will be flipped.”

He will introduce a bill requiring the accused to file a petition and prove they are not too dangerous to be released.

Democrats are pushing for another bill called “Karina’s Bill.” They believe it’s too easy for people accused of domestic violence to access firearms.

“I would ask my colleagues who want us to work on all of these items to think about the victims of domestic violence and readily availability of firearms to the perpetrator, and the protections are not there yet. We need to give law enforcement the tools to seize those weapons,” said state Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock, D-Villa Park.

“Karina’s Bill” would require police seize someone’s weapons within 96 hours when they’re giving a court order to surrender their Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card. Right now, they can turn their guns over to another FOID card holder including someone in the same house.

Curran said he supports the underlying idea of getting guns out of the hands of accused domestic abusers. He cautions though that ongoing negotiations between lawmakers, advocates and law enforcement have to get the policy details right since executing search warrants can be very dangerous.

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