Almost a year ago, on July 6, 2016, Philando Castile was shot dead in his automobile, after informing an officer that he was legally carrying a firearm. The officer, who said he feared Castile was reaching for the gun instead of for his wallet, fired seven shots into the vehicle, while his girlfriend and her daughter watched helplessly.

On June 16, that officer was found not guilty of manslaughter in Castile’s death, but it raises some serious questions. Aside from the racial aspect of the case (Castile was pulled over for having a broken tail light, but the officer was nervous because he had a “wide nose” and therefore matched the description of a robbery suspect), there is the fact that Castile was legally licensed to carry the handgun he had, and had committed no crime.

Several times each month, cases come before the Lawrence County Common Pleas Court where suspects, black and white, are charged with improperly handling a handgun in a vehicle, or having a handgun while under disability, which usually means the suspect is legally barred from having a firearm because of previous convictions. These cases often involve drug use or drug sales as well, yet, to their credit, the officers involved handled the presence of firearms without shooting the suspects.

There are likely many more cases where they pull over an otherwise law-abiding citizen for speeding, or broken tail lights, those individuals have legally-licensed firearms, and they go on their way with a warning or ticket — cases that we in the media, and the public, never hear about, because they don’t end up in an indictment.

The point is, in each of these cases, the officers who responded have taken control of the situation without firing shots. It is possible. But the public needs to be aware that any interaction with the police involving guns has the possibility to turn deadly. When in doubt, keep your hands visible on the steering wheel and don’t move until an officer instructs you.

Officers have every right to be careful and cautious. Their jobs often require them to be in dangerous places with dangerous people. But their jobs come with great responsibility. They need to be able to read a situation, and respond with appropriate force, if force is even required. There are ways to handle guns in traffic stops that don’t result in death, as court records show us. If this requires more training, for psychological readiness as well as response time and accuracy, then officers should be required to undergo that training.

No one should be shot for simply practicing their constitutionally guaranteed Second Amendment right to bear arms, especially when they’ve done nothing but drive with a broken tail light.