In light of the recent shooting in Arizona, I think most Americans took a second, an hour, a day to think about the state of things here in our great country. Everyone’s been thinking about it, wondering, how could you be that angry? or how could you get a semi-automatic weapon in a sporting goods store? or simply, how?

How does something like this happen in the US? How does someone buy a gun like that here, and for what? Surely not for hunting. You’d riddle the animal with so many bullets before you were through you wouldn’t be able to eat it. For self protection, then? To protect yourself from…what? Other guns?

My blog hasn’t strayed to politics in a while, and I’ve been certainly focused on cooking, my own life, things at home. But this gives me pause. It reminds me of what I believe in. Of why I voted for who I voted for. Of why I trust who I trust. Because I know that there are others out there like me, who don’t believe that you should be able to go into a sporting goods store, the same place kids buy their summer swimsuits, their fall soccer cleats, their winter ice skates, and buy a semi-automatic pistol. Legally.

And it reminds me of what I don’t support. Gun rights. Because since when did “gun” and “rights” make the same sentence? Rights to what? Someone else’s life? Or at least limb? How is that a right? How is that something worth fighting for? Explain that to me. And I don’t support people who use crosshairs to pinpoint who there is left to beat. And for that matter, I don’t support those who knock the First Lady for giving children food rights. (And when was the last time you heard a parent yell and scream about food rights, anyways?)

Let’s all take a moment of silence. Then, a moment of pause. Then, action. We are resilient. We are change. So start a conversation. Talk to your congressmen, talk to your senator. Talk to your neighbor. Talk to your friends. Talk to me.