Adopt gun regulations to fight terrorism

To the editor:

I support President Barack Obama's proposal to enact common-sense gun regulations in response to the terrorist threat.

Obviously, we should block suspected terrorists from gun purchases. If the name is on a no-fly list, it should also be on a no-buy list. This would require expanding our screening system to include gun shows and online purchases.

If 40 percent of guns are acquired without a background check, as they are now, we might as well not have any background checks at all. It's time to get serious about screening gun purchases at least as well as we screen purchases of Sudafed. Ninety percent of Iowans favor universal background checks on gun sales.

I also support the president's proposal to make it more difficult to purchase military-style assault weapons that are capable of killing large numbers of people in very short order. No one needs such guns, or high capacity magazines, for sport or home protection. They are weapons of mass killing and should be treated as such. The Second Amendment calls for a well-regulated militia. This is how we regulate it.

Karen Nichols

Iowa City