SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois lawmakers are moving quickly on a bill that would ban assault weapons in the state.

They could vote on the bill in the next couple of weeks. Gun control advocates have long called for assault weapon bans at both the state and federal level, but that proposal is now on the books.

One of the more prominent experts on gun control is worried that Illinois is taking the wrong approach. Stephanie Kollmann, director of policy at The Children and Family Institute, consults on gun control measures in the Capitol.

Since the state is taking the criminalization route, she sees the proposal as a penalty enhancement, something that Democrats have long fought against.

“I think there are a lot of tools that the state could use to stop the manufacture, stop the sale, stop people from profiting from these weapons, and accessories, which are very dangerous, without creating new harms for families and communities by going with a criminalization route, rather than other tools that has available,” Kollmann said.

Even if lawmakers do pass the bill in the next few weeks, it will likely be a long time before the state sees it go into effect.