Background checks should be required for gun buyers

I believe everyone has the right to own a gun for protection and for sport if they choose. But who needs to buy a weapon of war or high-count ammunition magazines unless they plan to kill a lot of people in a short time?

Why is the National Rifle Association and so much of the country against background checks for gun buyers? Do they not stop to think that even their buying habits and payment records are tracked in order to determine their credit rating? No one complains about that as invasion of privacy.

Shouldn't something be known about a person trying to buy a lethal weapon?

I had to have a background check before joining the Foster Grandparent Program in order to help school children learn their ABCs. Was that an invasion of my right to privacy? Maybe. But did I whine about it? No, because more important than my rights was the safety of children.

How did so much of Congress get so calloused that they can't see past their rights, and the dollar signs from gun sales, and 20 little mangled bodies in the Newton, Conn., elementary school doesn't faze them enough to take some common sense action?

It's because they are beholden to the NRA for campaign funding and they dare not offend them if it interferes with getting elected next time.

Margaret Bartlett

Cedar Rapids