Concealed carriers are a huge asset to our Republic. They perform a deterrent role to violent crime in civil society, and tend to be far more law-abiding and even-tempered than the average citizen.

But when you have more than 12 million (and by some estimates, more than 13 million) concealed carriers in the United States, you’re bound to have the occasional idiot slip through the cracks and obtain a permit.

Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez is apparently that idiot.

A woman accused of firing a gun at the vehicle of a fleeing shoplifter in Michigan was charged Tuesday with a misdemeanor count of reckless use, handling or discharge of a firearm.

Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez, 46, of Clarkston, Mich., is accused of shooting at the tires of a vehicle last week in the “misguided attempt to disable the vehicle to stop two reported shoplifters,” at a Home Depot inAuburn Hills, Mich., according to a news release from the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office and the Auburn Hills Police Department.

“If this is proven, I find it very disturbing that someone would take out their gun in a busy parking lot and shoot at the tires of a passing car,” Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said in a statement. “Once fired, the bullet could have easily ricocheted or fragmented and injured or killed someone else. It would have been much more helpful for her to take out her cellphone and shoot pictures of the shoplifter’s license plate.”

Duva-Rodriguez, who is a concealed pistol license holder and cooperated with police, is expected to be arraigned in Rochester Hills, Mich., at a time the court will set later. The shooting happened in the store’s parking lot around 2 p.m. ET Oct. 6 when the store’s security guard was chasing a shoplifter who jumped into a Kia Rondothat another person was, police said.

Most of us view concealed carry as a solemn duty to protect our lives and the lives of our loved ones from violent criminals. In certain circumstances, many of us might even feel compelled to put our own lives on the line in order to protect total strangers from violent crime.

At no point, ever, does a concealed carrier think that discharging a firearm to disable a non-violent person, or to alter their flight, is an acceptable solution.

When we decide to carry a concealed firearm, we take on the responsibility of knowing the laws, and understanding the conditions under which the judicious use of precision rounds to end a lethal force threat are justified.

Law enforcement may only fire at fleeing suspects in a very narrow range of conditions, where, “the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.”

She is fortunate that she didn’t hit either of the shoplifters or completely innocent bystanders with her gunfire, and she’s incredibly fortunate that Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper is only charging her with a misdemeanor. Cooper would easily seem to have the grounds to charge Duva-Rodriguez with multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon (one count for each bullet fired, times two suspects).

Know the law, folks, and act intelligently to save lives.

We are not vigilantes.

We are defenders of life.