OBAMA: 'We have a pattern now of mass shootings ... that has no parallel'
In a brief preview of an interview with CBS that was set to air on Thursday morning, Obama reiterated his call for increased gun-safety laws, stronger background checks, and a ban on gun purchases for people on the TSA's no-fly list.
"The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world," Obama said in the interview, which was conducted shortly after he was briefed by his Homeland Security adviser on the situation.
"We should come together on a bipartisan basis at every level to make these rare as opposed to normal," he added. "We should never think that this is something that just happen in the ordinary course of events because this doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries."
In a blunt speech after a shooting at an Oregon community college earlier this year that claimed 10 lives, Obama argued mass shootings should be "politicized" to illustrate the need for stricter gun-control measures.
"This is something we should politicize. It is relevant to our common life together," Obama said from the White House. "This is a political choice we make to allow this to happen every few months in America."
"Each time this happens, I'm going to bring this up. I am going to say that we can actually do something about it," he said in closing his remarks.
Though details of Wednesday's shooting are still emerging, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said in a press conference that up to 14 people were dead and 14 were wounded, though officials cautioned that the numbers may be fluid.
As The Washington Post notes, there have been 351 mass shootings this year alone.