To promote law and order, the U.S. Congress must enact universal background checks for all gun sales in this country.
There were more than 11,000 firearm homicides in 2011 in this country, including an unknown number of victims of domestic violence.
If universal background checks had been in place, the estranged husband of Zina Haughton might not have been able to pass the background check and purchase a gun from a private online gun seller and kill Haughton the next day with that gun.
A vote against universal background checks will result in continued violence against women, children and men in this country.
There is no reason to vote against background checks based on the Second Amendment. This is because the U.S. Supreme Court has made it clear that reasonable regulations on firearms are permitted under the amendment.
Universal background checks are simply the logical method to try to prevent criminals and mentally ill individuals from obtaining guns.
The Supreme Court has indicated that those current prohibitions on gun purchases are valid under the Constitution.
There should be no further attempts to delay a Senate vote on the proposal. The victims of Sandy Hook deserve a positive vote on the merits of the legislation.
DOUGLAS L. ROGERS