WASHINGTON – Was the San Bernardino shooting an act of terrorism or workplace rage? It doesn’t really matter, in terms of the need for better regulation of assault rifles and semiautomatic weapons.
The growing evidence this latest attack was terrorism should galvanize a citizen movement to demand better protection against such mass shootings, whether they’re the work of Muslim extremists, enraged anti-abortion militants or mentally unstable loners.
David Ignatius“Enough is enough,” said President Obama after the shooting in Colorado Springs last week. This conviction should only deepen as the investigators try to determine the motivations of the suspected shooters in San Bernardino, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
The attackers certainly intended to terrorize. They were protected by body armor and armed with two AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, two semiautomatic pistols and what police say were more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition. Three pipe bombs were found at the attack site, and 12 more pipe bombs were found at a residence nearby.
Were the shooters “terrorists?” News reports focused on the couple’s Pakistani backgrounds, his trip to Saudi Arabia to meet and marry her, and his online contacts with terrorism suspects. The FBI is investigating the case, including the puzzle of why the couple targeted a holiday party at a social services center – not an obvious jihadist magnet.