Calgary-Buffalo MLA Kent Hehr believes Bill 201 will curb criminals driving around with illegal weapons. (Alberta Liberals)

An Alberta Liberal MLA is introducing a private member's bill that would allow police to levy a maximum $25,000 fine and suspend the driver's licence of anyone carrying an illegal weapon in a vehicle.

Kent Hehr, Liberal justice critic and MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, is proposing Bill 201 to crack down on gang violence in Alberta.

Suspending a suspected gang member's licence may not seem effective, Hehr said, but could be useful when combined with a big fine, which would go into a fund to help victims of crime.

"It is an immediate up-to-$25,000 fine. There's no monkeying around. This is full stop, we're not going to take illegal guns driving around in vehicles in our cities," he said.

But Alberta Solicitor General Fred Lindsay says he is not convinced Bill 201 is a good idea, and defence lawyers say the bill could cause problems.

The law could penalize gun owners who don't register their firearms for political reasons, said Brian Hurley, president of Edmonton's Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association.

The penalties would also have little effect on Alberta's gang problem, he said.

"To suggest, 'Oh, I'm going to take this 17-year-old's licence away from him and that will sort him out,' that's just knee jerk reactionary, pandering to public fear, not really addressing what government should be doing," Hurley said.

"And I certainly would hope the Liberals would do better than this."

Hehr's Bill 201 website says: "The intent of this bill is not to go after hunters, farmers and other responsible Albertans who might happen to have an unregistered long gun. It’s become clear that violent, gun-toting criminals are hiding behind the privileges given to legitimate gun owners in this province."

Hehr hopes the public will back his idea and encourage MLAs to pass the bill once it is introduced in the legislature on March 2.

That date is the earliest opportunity for Hehr because Monday is the only day set aside for private members' business and February has been dedicated to ministers' responses to the throne speech delivered last week, said Alberta Liberal spokesman Michael Spears.