Restraining Orders

The steps to get a firearms restraining order are similar to the steps to get a domestic violence restraining order, but you will fill out different forms, like these from Lake County.

To request an emergency order or a six-month order, you must file an affidavit or verified pleading that:

• claims that the respondent poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself/herself or another in the near future by having firearms in his/her custody or by purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm; and
• describes the number, types, and locations of any firearms you believe the respondent has or controls.¹

If the respondent poses a threat to an “intimate partner,” you must first try to give notice to the intimate partner regarding the fact that you plan on filing a petition for a firearms restraining order.² An intimate partner is:

• the respondent’s spouse or former spouse;
• a person with whom the respondent has a child; or
• a person to whom the respondent is or was dating or engaged.³

If you are unable to provide the respondent’s intimate partner with notice, you should include information about what efforts you made to provide him/her with notice in your affidavit or verified pleading.⁴

¹ 430 ILCS 67/35(a); 67/40(a)
² 430 ILCS 67/35(b); 67/40(b)
³ 430 ILCS 67/5
⁴ 430 ILCS 67/35(b); 67/40(b)