BANGOR, Maine - 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."

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Online: http://www.stephenking.com/index.html