The low service rate has alarmed survivors and victim advocates, who say the department is flouting the law and leaving people at risk. "Attempting to remove guns from respondents through the honor system and voluntary surrender is exactly the broken system that Karina's Law was passed to fix," said Benna Crawford, managing attorney at Legal Aid Chicago.

A police spokesperson said the department's focus is on recovering weapons "in the safest manner possible for all individuals involved," adding that some guns are still taken during arrests or when suspected abusers hand them over voluntarily after a warrant is issued. The spokesperson also said the department "does not refuse to serve search warrants" and that reforms have strengthened the process to ensure information is verified and corroborated.

One case illustrates the pattern. Dominique, a 26-year-old mother who asked to be identified only by her first name out of fear for her safety, told a Cook County judge in September that her abusive ex-boyfriend had pointed a gun at her head over the summer. "I just don't want to die," she said. The judge granted her request for a protective order and a search warrant, giving police 96 hours to execute it. But two days later, an officer returned to court to ask the judge to drop the warrant, arguing that too much time had passed since Dominique last saw the gun and that police could not "conclusively say that that firearm remains in the location." Cook County Circuit Judge Lester Finkle sided with the police and quashed the warrant. Dominique's order of protection still has not been served.

Legal Aid Chicago lawyers set up a desk at Cook County's domestic violence courthouse in May and began tracking cases tied to Karina's Law. Crawford said that in cases where warrants were directed to suburban law enforcement agencies, all were served and guns were recovered. But for more than 30 Legal Aid clients whose warrants went to Chicago police, none were executed, she said. In almost every case, police returned to court and asked a judge to negate the warrant, often arguing that the information was old or lacked certainty.

The three warrants Chicago police did serve yielded multiple firearms. One executed in July 2025 in a protective order case recovered two guns; another in October 2025 in a divorce proceeding recovered four. The most recent, served this July in a criminal case, recovered 26 firearms from a Bridgeport home while a man was in custody on domestic battery charges.

At a city budget hearing this month, Counterterrorism Chief Christopher Papaioannou, who was named a finalist Thursday to become the city's next police superintendent, acknowledged the challenges of the "expedited" timeline. "Sometimes, it makes it very difficult for officers to … corroborate all the information, assess what the risks are when you're actually conducting the warrant, and focus on appropriate course of action," he said. He credited officers for "doing an exceptional job" executing warrants but noted that most guns "are being recovered through voluntary compliance."

State Sen. Celina Villanueva, D-Chicago, a chief sponsor of Karina's Law, said it's "a problem" that Chicago cops aren't serving most warrants. "This is something the department really needs to take a look at," she said, adding that lawmakers also need to "go to the drawing board" to help keep survivors safe.

Maralea Negron, executive vice president of policy and impact for The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, spent years lobbying for the law. "To see the fact that it's failing in places where a search warrant was granted — a very serious legal document and a directive by a judge — is very disheartening and completely undermines the intention of what we were trying to accomplish," she said. Negron and Crawford said they have tried to meet with the police department but received no response.

Karina's Law is named for Karina Gonzalez, who was shot to death in July 2023, weeks after she told police she had been threatened by her husband, Jose Alvarez. Her 15-year-old daughter, Daniela, was also killed. Gonzalez had been granted a protective order barring Alvarez from possessing a gun, but his weapon was never taken away. Her son, Manny Alvarez, said he hoped the law would protect other families. "It's just disappointing to hear that people are asking for help — taking advantage of the law that was passed to help them ensure that that doesn't happen again — and out of self-interest or CPD's own reasons, they're simply just rejecting [warrants] or choosing not to carry them out," he said. "I don't want it to be the case that there has to be someone else who dies at the hands of an abuser, and that's the reason that people start taking it seriously again."

Domestic violence homicides in Chicago have fallen over the past year, but nonfatal domestic shootings have risen. So far this year, 69 people in Chicago have been shot and wounded by a domestic partner — a 25% increase compared to the same period in 2025.

Dominique said she spends most of her time inside with her young child when she isn't in school. "I have a duty to protect my son even though I'm afraid for myself," she said. "It's a very perplexing feeling. I have to put on a brave face. I have to keep my head high. Yet I can't let my rain get my child wet." She added: "Victims of domestic violence, whether you are a male or a female, I just want the system to recognize us and fight for us."