In the absence of effective gun control measures, American citizens have access to highly deadly weapons that pose a threat to society. Simple weapons like the pistol are enough to protect yourself. In addition, simple weapons cannot cause the death of a large number of individuals unlike semi-automatic and automatic weapons. In 1994, the U.S. government banned the sale to the public of AR-5-style pistols and other assault weapons after their use in a school shooting in Florida that left many students dead ( Winkler and Adam, 2011). The assault weapons ban lapsed in 2004, but was reintroduced in 2017 after 26 people were killed at a Texas church by a shooter using an assault rifle. Even after the reintroduction of the assault weapons ban, it is still not fully enforced because there is still access to these weapons. Effectively implementing the assault weapons ban will ensure that the public does not have access to deadly weapons that can result in high casualties when used to perpetrate gun violence (Bingham & Amy, 2017 ). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Likewise, the lack of effective gun control measures forces the U.S. government to bear many of the costs associated with gun violence. According to Spitzer and Robert (2012), gun violence cost every US citizen $564 in 2010. In the same year, gun violence cost the US government $5.5 billion in lost tax revenue, $4.1 billion dollars in Medicaid and Medicare costs and $4.7 billion. in litigation costs (Spitzer and Robert, 2012). The lack of effective gun control measures will only cause the government to continue to use a large portion of its finances to solve the problems caused by gun violence. Effective gun control measures will reduce instances of gun violence in the country, thereby reducing government funds devoted to this problem. Increasing cases of gun violence in the country have also led to a decline in real estate costs. According to Winkler and Adam (2011), increased cases of gun violence in various neighborhoods caused property values ​​to decline by 12.5%. In the United States, gun control is necessary to combat increasing cases of gun violence. An example of a gun control measure the U.S. government can implement to combat gun violence is mental and background checks of gun buyers. Additionally, effective gun control will ensure that appropriate weapons are sold to the public. To ensure that appropriate weapons are sold to the public, the government should effectively implement the assault weapons ban that limits people's access to assault rifles..