The amazing thing is that America was surprised at all

Thomas Matthew Crooks took his father's AR-15, climbed a building near former President Donald Trump's Saturday rally and got several shots off in Trump's direction before being killed by the U.S. Secret Service. The gun was purchased legally in Pennsylvania by Crooks' father. Early background reports indicate that the 20-year-old gunman was a loner, a registered Republican, but had also donated to at least one left leaning organization. There's no evidence of any political component to anything he did. Now that I have covered the basics of what occurred, I have one primary question today. What part of those details, if one had precisely predicted them a week, month or year earlier, would have sounded impossible or unlikely at all? Would any of us have struggled to envision such a thing? I wouldn't have. Not for one moment. I first heard the news while fading in and out of an early evening nap on Saturday. A text from a friend at 6:26 pm said "Trump got shot!" I quickly sat up and turned on the news to see it was real. Even though some weirdos on social media committed to doubting its validity for far too long, it was clearly real.  None of it surprised me. I did not feel a single second of astonishment for the first hour I was glued to the screen. Yes, violent crime is declining in America. However, with the suffocating presence of guns here, particularly the absurdly common AR-15, coupled with a largely unresearched mental health phenomena of these suicide shooters, these horrific episodes have become embedded into our daily lives. When was the last time a shooting like this really surprised any of us?   Connect with Michael Leppert Visit michaelleppert.com to read the full post and links to any resources or articles mentioned. Twitter @michaelleppert  Facebook at Michael Leppert