Starting Wednesday, Pennsylvania residents convicted of domestic violence or subject to final restraining orders must surrender their guns within 24 hours.

Act 79 , signed by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf in October, also prohibits domestic abusers from handing over their firearms to friends or family members. Now, they must forfeit their guns to law enforcement, a district attorney or a licensed gun dealer.

Prior to this new law, people convicted of domestic violence had 60 days to hand over their firearms. In the case of final restraining orders, judges had the final say as to whether or not a person would have to relinquish their guns. The Associated Press reported that judges only ordered forfeiture 14 percent of the time.

"Today Pennsylvania is taking a long-overdue step forward to keep guns from abusers and honor all the victims of domestic violence that have lost their lives at the hands of their abuser with a firearm," Wolf said after signing the legislation.

The law marks a major victory for anti-gun violence advocates and for Democrats who have tried to impose stricter gun laws for more than a decade. But some lawmakers are concerned about an amendment that was added to the legislation, which states that subjects of final restraining orders do not have to hand over their guns if they reach an agreement with the person who filed the order.

"An abuser with a weapon has a powerful influence over their victim," Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, a Democrat, said in a statement . "The court should require abusers to surrender all firearms in every case of domestic violence. We cannot put victims in the position to negotiate firearms with their already-hostile abusers," he said.

And for those convicted of domestic violence, the legislation allows judges to extend an individual's deadline for handing over their guns beyond 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania lawmakers have moved on to another anti-violence bill that would allow judges to issue an "extreme risk protection order" if an individual is at risk for suicide or for harming others.