I think a balanced, reasonable discussions need to take place. Gun advocates don't need to put blinders up and Gun non-advocates don't need to go overboard the opposite way. This just polarizes people and sometimes make up their minds to be contrary. I like what King suggests here.

Stephen King writes post-Newtown essay on guns

Horror writer Stephen King is seeking to provoke a discussion on gun control and gun rights following the school shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn.

The Maine native is a gun owner. He calls for three "reasonable measures" to curb gun violence in an essay titled "Guns," released Friday as a Kindle single through Amazon.

King says he wants background checks on all gun sales and bans on high-capacity magazines and military-style weapons like the rifle used in the Newtown shooting, which killed 20 children and six school officials.

King describes a pattern of mass shootings in which anger and frustration give way to political rhetoric before discussions of gun control "disappear into the legislative swamp." He says on his website: "If this helps provoke constructive debate, I've done my job."