Unwritten rule: don't shoot

Dave e-mails.

As a lawyer, and sort of Minneapolis resident, you should like this.

There Oughta Be a Law

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

As police released more details about the shooting of a Qwest Communications worker in north Minneapolis, they also spoke about its repercussions within the community.

An unwritten rule against harming people whose work brings them into different parts of the city was broken when the telephone repairman was shot as he did his job, Assistant Minneapolis Chief Tim Dolan said Thursday.

"If that line starts to be crossed, the quality of life here is going to be seriously affected," he said.

Shooting a telephone repairman in Minnesota breaks "an unwritten rule"? In some states it would actually be against the law.

Well, obviously, shooting anyone without justification is against the law in Minnesota. But Dave does have a point regarding the warped premise on which the story is based. Doesn't the "unwritten rule" of "don't shoot" apply to everyone, not just "people whose work brings them into different parts of the city"?