California gun laws cannot stop mass shootings without federal support: The Guardian

LONDON, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The recent mass shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay in California showed that state gun laws alone cannot stop mass shootings without coordinated U.S. federal response, The Guardian said in an analysis.

California's gun laws include bans on the military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines that have been used in many mass shootings, the British newspaper said last week, adding that California is one of just two states, alongside New Jersey, to receive an "A" rating from the gun safety group Giffords, based on the strength of its firearm regulations.

While gun rights proponents have cited the two shootings as evidence of the ineffectiveness of California's laws, groups like Giffords fiercely reject those arguments. Gun safety groups have noted dramatic decline in firearm mortality rate in California in the years since tougher regulations were enacted, it said.

In a nation where firearms outnumber people, such horrific attacks will continue without a coordinated federal response to gun violence, it quoted the gun safety groups as saying.

"California is one state of 50," said Nick Suplina, senior vice-president for law and policy at the gun safety group Everytown. "There's just no question that strong, uniform federal laws are substantially better than a mixed bag of strong and weak state laws."