You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
Mohandas Gandhi
[I thought of this after reading of the tragic shooting of all the people in Wisconsin yesterday. Just because one cop goes nuts and starts shooting innocent people doesn’t mean all cops should have their guns taken away from them.–Joe]
Of course, the same logic should absolutely be applied to civilians as well… much to the chagrin of those who would prefer it ran the other way.
Yes, of course. I used the present example/tragedy just to make that point.
Once a person buys into the concept of not all cops should have their guns taken away because one cop is a nut-case they will have a difficult time not applying the same logic to private citizens.
[Minor note: Unless they are military police they are civilians. I.E., your local police officer, sheriff deputy, etc. are by formal definition civilians. While on duty they are not private citizens but they are still civilians.]