Story highlights Obama called for "common sense gun safety laws" in the wake of the shooting

"We should never think that this is just something that just happens," Obama said

Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama reiterated his call for more gun control reforms to make mass shootings in the U.S. "rare as opposed to normal" in the wake of a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California.

Speaking to CBS News moments after news broke of the shooting, Obama called for "common sense gun safety laws" and urged lawmakers to pass a law to prevent individuals on the "No Fly List" who are barred from boarding commercial flights from legally purchasing firearms.

"We don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer," Obama said in the interview. "We should never think that this is just something that just happens in the ordinary course of events because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries."

Obama said the pattern of U.S. mass shootings "has no parallel anywhere else in the world."

The shooting occurred at the Inland Regional Center, a facility for people with developmental disabilities in San Bernardino, California.

Emergency personnel responded late Wednesday morning to reports of a shooting that killed or injured as more than 20 people, according to law enforcement.

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