California shooting: Couple were primed for mass shooting #SanBernadino

San Bernardino attackers had huge arsenal, were in military-style gear and carried assault rifles

A young couple who killed 14 people in a shooting in California had amassed a huge arsenal and carefully planned their attack, authorities said yesterday, refusing to rule out terrorism.
There were competing theories as to what drove United States-born Syed Farook, 28, described as a committed Muslim, and his 27-year-old wife Tashfeen Malik to spray gunfire at a holiday party on Thursday in San Bernardino, about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles.

The attack, which left 21 people wounded, was the deadliest in the US since the 2012 massacre at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 26 people died, including 20 children.
San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan said Farook and his wife - who dropped off their 6-month-old daughter with Farook's mother shortly before the killings - fired about 75 rounds during the attack at a disabilities centre that required "a degree of planning".
But the latest mass shooting in the United States could have been worse, after Burguan revealed that explosives rigged to a remote-controlled car were found at the scene of the carnage but the device failed to go off.
Another 1600 rounds of ammunition were found on the couple and in their bullet-riddled black SUV after a police chase and shootout in which they died.
Two police officers were wounded in the rapid exchange of gunfire on a quiet residential street, though neither seriously.
About 5000 additional rounds, 12 pipe bombs and bomb-making material were also found at the home the couple shared.
"Nobody just gets upset at a party, goes home and puts together that kind of elaborate scheme," Burguan said, after indications that Farook had attended the party organised by the health department and left following a dispute, only to return a short time later with Malik.

He said the duo were dressed in black military-style gear and carried assault weapons and semi-automatic handguns when they raided the Inland Regional Centre shortly before noon local time.
President Barack Obama, who ordered flags to be flown at half-staff over the weekend, cautioned that the motive for the carnage was not yet known, but a terror attack could not be ruled out.
"At this stage, we do not yet know why the terrible event occurred," said Obama, who has repeatedly called on the Republican-controlled Congress to pass tougher gun control measures.
"It is possible that this was terrorist-related, but we don't know. It's also possible that this was workplace-related."

The FBI also cautioned that it was "way too early" to speculate on the motive.
Acquaintances said that Farook, who worked for the local county as an environmental inspector, married his Pakistan-born wife last year during a trip to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.
Burguan said the couple had no criminal record.
But CNN quoted law enforcement officials as saying Farook had become radicalised and had contact with known terrorism suspects overseas.
An imam at the local mosque that Farook attended denied that and said there was no indication he held extremist views.
A fellow worshipper at the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah mosque said Farook used to pray there two to three times a week, but had not been seen for about three weeks.
Another acquaintance said Farook met Malik online and they married in Mecca last year during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
"I saw her [Malik] a couple times, but never met her," said Nizaam Ali, a university student.
"She was covered from head to toe in black."

Names of the victims began emerging on social media before police released them.
"My husband, Nicholas Thalasinos, was killed in the shooting," wrote Jennifer Thalasinos, a teacher, on her Facebook page.
According to the site Mass Shooting Tracker, the latest attack brings to 355 the number of mass shootings in the US so far this year.
A mass shooting is defined as four or more people shot in one incident.
Muslim officials in San Bernardino said that a prayer vigil was to be held at the local mosque to honour the victims.
"We condemn this senseless and horrific act of violence in the strongest possible terms," said Ahsan Khan, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community chapter in Los Angeles.
"Our community has been in San Bernardino County for nearly three decades, and yet have never seen such depravity."
Abed Ayoub, legal and policy director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said there was fear the attacks would lead to a backlash against the Muslim community.
"We need to stay cautious given the atmosphere and what happened in Paris a few weeks ago and the fallout from that and the continued rhetoric," Ayoub said, referring to the recent terror attacks in France that left 130 dead.

Elda Flores (centre) with her daughter and grandchildren at a candlelight vigil for the shooting victims. Photo / AP

Prayers and politics: new debate in the US

There have been plenty of prayers in the wake of the latest mass shooting in the United States, but little concrete action on gun control is expected from lawmakers, despite pressure from Americans weary of the violence.
"God isn't fixing this," the New York Daily News blared on its front page in a dig at lawmakers - and presidential candidates - who offer their "thoughts and prayers" to victims and their families but balk at strengthening gun controls.
To hammer home its point, the newspaper included tweets from several Republican presidential hopefuls - Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham - offering prayers for the victims and their families.
President Barack Obama - who has been visibly angry after recent mass shootings - has called his inability to enact "common sense" gun controls after the Newtown shooting in December 2012 the biggest disappointment of his time in office.
While support for stricter gun control is on the rise - up to 55 per cent of Americans in a recent Gallup poll from 47 per cent last year - Obama's rival Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, have blocked all attempts at reform.
Guns are a potent political symbol in the US, where the right to bear arms is enshrined in the constitution.
The powerful National Rifle Association has helped shape the response to gun violence in recent years by arguing that "the only way to protect people from a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun".
Millions of average Americans heeded the warnings.
The number of people with licences to carry concealed weapons in public nearly doubled in the past four years to an estimated 11.7 million last year from 6.9 million in 2010, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
A common refrain after every mass shooting among lawmakers is that "now is not the time" to talk about gun control, as it would politicise a tragedy.
"These folks only want to think and pray - the NRA pays them to only think and pray about gun violence and not to do anything else about it," Igor Volsky, a blogger with ThinkProgress, told MSNBC.
Critics say that waiting until a respectful time has passed to talk about gun control means the conversation can never take place because there are more mass shootings than days in the year.
According to the site Mass Shooting Tracker, the latest attack brings to 355 the number of mass shootings - defined as four or more people shot in one incident - in the US so far this year.
The sheer numbers mean that only the most shocking incidents make the national news, and even then the coverage and response has become routine, said Jess Cagle, editorial director of People magazine.
In a sign of how the debate has reached all sectors of American society, the usually fluffy entertainment magazine published the contact information for all members of the US Congress and urged readers to demand change following a shooting at an Oregon college in October.
"We all ask ourselves the same questions: How could it happen again? What are we doing about gun violence in America? There are no easy answers, of course," Cagle wrote at the time.
"Some argue for stricter gun laws, others say we should focus on mental health issues, some point to a culture that celebrates violence.
"But this much we know: As a country we clearly aren't doing enough, and our elected officials' conversations about solutions usually end in political spin."

Shoppers, get your guns

Americans will soon be able to snap up the latest firearms from the comfort of their sofas with the launch next month of GunTV, a 24-hour shopping channel.
The new channel is being launched by an organisation called Social Responsibility Network, which says it is addressing a need for "education, information and safety regarding firearms commerce in America".
The channel will also, it says, responsibly provide "extraordinary access to purchasing the most diverse representation of firearms in the world".
It will function like other home shopping channels, displaying merchandise which can be ordered by telephone or online.
"This 24-hour live shopping network brings to life a vast array of firearms and related consumer goods in a groundbreaking format that inextricably fuses the social responsibility message with the traditional shopping channel format," says a promotional web page.
The channel will be available to 34 million subscribers of satellite television. But instead of delivering guns directly to consumers, it will ship the items to a local firearms dealer.
GunTV co-founder Valerie Castle told the Guardian newspaper that the channel would meet existing demand while offering more education and information.
"I don't really know that it's going to put more guns on the streets," she was quoted as saying.
Buyers will need to fill out forms and go through required background checks at licensed dealers before taking the firearms home.
One of the dealers signing on with the channel is Sports South, described as one of the oldest and largest gun sellers in the United States.