Columbia, SC — If the Jan. 31 guest column by Edmund Higgins was intended as a caution against the need for gun control, it misses several crucial points (“Violence in America, S.C. is on the decline”).

Of course violence has gone down over the centuries. Could that be because government has controlled it? Could it be because of laws that punish and prevent the most egregious acts? Gun control represents just one more step in helping us proceed down that road of civilization.

When one looks at change over large spans of time, a large amount of data — and in this case a lot of tragedy and carnage — is lost. Try telling folks in the Dark Ages that the Spanish Inquisition was just part of the decline in violence. I’m certain they didn’t see the big picture. Try telling it to the parents of those Newtown children.

It’s so hard for me to believe that Americans will sit on their hands and let a minority of the population dictate death for so many, all because they’re afraid of some slippery slope to gun confiscation.

Where are those “jack-booted thugs” the NRA fantasizes about when we most need them? Responsible members of the NRA must convey their feelings to their president, Mr. Cold-Dead-Hands LaPierre.

Patricia Mohr

Columbia