BANGOR, Maine (AP) — 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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