SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The deadly shooting in San Bernardino happened in a state with some of the nation's toughest gun laws: California bars assault weapons, blocks the sale of large-capacity magazines and requires universal background checks for all gun purchases.
Authorities said they believe attackers Syed Rizwan Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik had legally obtained two handguns and that two rifles were also legally purchased in California. Federal officials said the attackers had large-capacity magazines that violate California law in their SUV.
Since the attack Wednesday at a social service center in Southern California, the state's strict laws and the apparent legal purchase of the weapons have set off a debate over the effectiveness of gun measures and whether getting tougher would help prevent more violence.
"Not every law can prevent every gun death," said Allison Anderman, a staff attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco. "They work most of the time."
The gun-control advocacy group rates California's gun laws No. 1 in the nation; the state ranks 42nd in its rate of gun deaths. Louisiana's gun laws were ranked 50th and it is No. 2 in deaths, according to the group's 2014 rankings. The variance in regulations means it's often easy for determined gunmen to acquire weapons by skirting laws in their home state, the group says. And untraceable weapons can be built from scratch using parts bought online.
As a result, gun-control advocates in the days since the shooting have called for more stringent laws in California and nationwide.
Crime Prevention Research Center president John Lott, a critic of additional gun laws who is often cited by the gun lobby, argued that the shooting illustrates how expanded background checks supported by President Barack Obama do not stop mass public shootings, including recent shootings in California, Colorado and Oregon.
"We're being told that even though these laws didn't stop these attacks in these states, somehow they would work in the rest of the country," he said.
The FBI said Farook legally bought the two handguns used in the attack -- purchases that would have required a background check. And there is no indication he or Malik had any criminal record or history of mental illness that would have triggered California's unique law allowing authorities to seize weapons from those who aren't allowed to own them.
California limited access to high-powered, military-style rifles in 1989, and lawmakers passed further restrictions in 2000, when the state banned specific types of AR-15 and AK-47 style rifles. It also bans the sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.
Information for this article was contributed by Ryan J. Foley of The Associated Press.
A Section on 12/07/2015