Gun dealers are more important than cops. Cops are a necessary part of the government, which (the government) properly exists to protect and serve those outside government.
Without the public, government would be pointless, not to mention impossible, since it is out labor that pays their salaries. Without government, the lives of members of the public would be less convenient (sometimes), more dangerous (sometimes), etc. but far from pointless. Government exists because of those of us outside, not vice versa.
Oh, and cops can choose or not to be cops, or to continue to be so, and if they don’t make that choice after serious consideration of the characteristics inherent in the job, why is that our problem to have to fix? In contrast, if a public citizen gets the short end of some legislation, he has to convince 51% of his peers of his opinion in order to fix it.