"Sure, if the AR-15 or any assault weapon were made illegal there would undoubtedly be a black market for criminals to obtain the guns anyways. That doesn't mean it wouldn't at least reduce the risk of a criminal obtaining a highly destructive rifle."
Well, the only thing that makes a weapon an assault weapon is if someone uses it to assault people with. A pistol or a knife can be an assault weapon, if that's what someone chooses to do with it. An AR-15 is a semi-auto, so if the weapon was banned, an individual could simply get a hunting style semi-auto, the only difference is the aesthetics. One looks more modern, and the other looks like something you might go hunting deer with.
Another thing to consider is because of the second amendment, the way in which they banned firearms was a trick of the law. Anyone can go out and buy an 80% lower reciever in the U.S. The lower is what is considered to be a firearm. So if you buy an AR-15 kit, and then an 80% lower, and then mill the lower to 100%, you've created your own weapon.
All of the regulations schemes and permits are designed around regulating firearms involved in commerce. Creating your own bypasses that necessity entirely, and does not require permission, or registration. For more on that, search ghost guns on YouTube.
"Raising the legal age to 21 would have prevented Nikolas Cruz from personally buying a gun. If assault weapons were banned period, i am doubtful he would have access to a weapons black market (as a mentally deranged high schooler)."
That might work in theory, but we can't even prevent kids from smoking cigarettes, or weed, or doing drugs, or driving drunk. It's not that they are robbing gas stations, or pharmacies, not most of them anyhow. So they are gaining access well before the age of 21, and it's usually facilitated by someone who is old enough to purchase these things legally.
"I also disagree with your hypothetical, in that I don't think there should be, or are any "good guys" with guns- outside of people hired for security/the police. The notion of arming more people in public areas and facilities is not intelligent- you don't necessarily have to be mentally ill to get angry enough to pull the trigger. People who own guns should go through strict training (and potentially licensing) that requires clear evidence of responsible gun ownership."
We might disagree here, I don't think that a piece of paper, or a badge or a license, necessarily has anything to do with the content of a person’s character. I'm sure you have, just as I have seen cops make the wrong decisions and kill people who clearly didn't deserve it. I've seen it more times than I can count.
So the idea that their badge makes them more entitled to protect my life, well, I disagree. Not to mention even if you are blessed enough to get a responsible cop/security guard on scene, there is a high chance they will have arrived when the damage was already done. I do agree with you about gun safety. In fact I think it should be taught in schools.
Not only gun safety, but also how people can have different opinions without being offended or resorting to hostility. In this new snowflake era all we're doing is teaching people how to be butthurt. So do I want to see a bunch of emo snowflakes armed to the teeth, no but technically they have the right.
"Also, I don't think the march for our lives movement is as willfully ignorant as many believe.. there are many smart kids who can see past our distorted view of how we must think about guns."
If everyone had good intentions, I doubt that people would feel the need to carry their weapons outside of places of sport, and or hunting areas. But the fact of life is, there are some really bad apples out there. Most kids, haven't had enough experience with reality to comprehend this, and without the ability to protect yourself against them, it puts you in a position to lose, without even a fighting chance to win.
"If there is anything that comes with this movement, I support delegitimizing all of the congressmen who are NRA puppets... the NRA has had a huge grip on congress for decades now. I am more indifferent on which weapons to ban and more interested in bringing down the gun lobby."
If you ask me, the NRA is speaking for millions of Americans who simply agree with a major tenant of the constitution. The second amendment is what backs the first. Take that away, and soon we'll be micro-regulating what people can, or cannot say, and if they say the wrong things, the force of the State will be used to persecute people for the language that they use.
"I think any responsible gun owner can see there needs to be some degree of further regulation, required training and background checks when it comes to guns. The fact I can go to a gun show and purchase a high capacity mag AR with minimal difficulty scares me. We spend years training kids to drive, we created strict boundaries and laws for driving and ultimately driving has become safer. I want the same to occur with guns."
Most responsible gun owners believe in, and agree with the constitution. If they own a gun, but don't respect the reason why they are able to, I would personally see that as irresponsible. I think you are right about the training, it should start in Kindergarten with training guns that have an alarm go off if the kid pulls the trigger. The child would lose privileges for pulling that trigger inappropriately, or at the wrong time. This would all be made clear before the training began.
This type of training should not only start in Kindergarten, but also continue into grade school as a refresher course, and into high school as well. By the time they are old enough to purchase a gun, they will know how to responsibly handle it. In addition to gun safety like I said; we need to teach children that it's okay to disagree with someone else's ideas, we need to teach them how to be secure in their own ideas, and not feel threatened by the ideas of others.
This whole safe spaces nonsense has gone to far, and it's making people weak and overly emotional. I mean it's no wonder that social justice warrior types rabidly want to ban guns. If they had one, they'd shoot at someone every time they got triggered, and they know that they get triggered at least a dozen times on any given day.
Images sourced from Pixabay. [1]
Inspired by comments derived from this link.