President Obama found himself in a familiar position Wednesday, responding to reports of another mass shooting, this time in Southern California.
During an interview with CBS News, Obama said it’s too early to know who is responsible for the shooting or why it occurred, but noted that “it does appear that there are going to be some casualties.”
{mosads}It was the second mass shooting in six days, the first being an attack at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado.
The president reiterated his argument that Congress must pass stricter gun laws to curb the frequency of mass shootings in America.
“What we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer and that we should come together on a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal,” he said.
“We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, ’cause it doesn’t happen with the same frequency in other countries,” he added.
The president called on Congress to pass legislation that would prevent people on the Transportation Security Administration’s no-fly list from purchasing firearms.
“People can’t get on planes but those same people who we don’t allow to fly could go into a store right now in the United States and buy a firearm and there’s nothing that we can do to stop them,” he said. “That’s a law that needs to be changed.”
The interview took place as authorities were responding to the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.
Police officials said up to three attackers entered the Inland Regional Center and opened fire, killing upward of 14 people and wounding 14 others. The suspects are still at large and there is no known motive, police said.