In Cook County alone, there are about 731,000 FOID card holders. Of those, more than 37,000 have been revoked. Of those revoked, 74%, or roughly 27,000, are noncompliant, meaning they likely still have their weapons.
During a public hearing in June 2022, Cook County sheriff’s police told legislators they did not have the manpower or money to recover all those weapons.
For whatever reason, advocates of domestic violence prevention say the system failed [Karina] Gonzalez and her family.
Gonzalez and her two children left home June 20 but returned June 26 after [Jose] Alvarez agreed to go to rehab, according to prosecutors.
On July 3, Alvarez began accusing his wife of cheating on him, as he had done in the past. Gonzalez told him to stop and joined her children on a couch in the living room, according to prosecutors.
Alvarez’s son told him to “stop or he would call 911” and walked toward his room, prosecutors said. Alvarez then rushed past him and grabbed his gun, prosecutors said. He shot Gonzalez and their 15-year-old daughter Daniela, then returned to the dining room and fired under the table where his son was shielding himself with a chair, prosectors said.
Gonzalez was shot eight times and pronounced dead at the scene. Daniela was shot in her face and forearm and died after being taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said. The son was hit in his ankle and ran out of the apartment.
“As disheartening as this story is, and so many stories, we have to keep pushing for the city that we want to see and the safety net that we know survivors deserve,” [Network director Amanda] Pyron said.
— Sophie Sherry in Fatal shooting of Karina Gonzalez once again highlights difficulty of seizing guns from spouse accused of abuse