California's assault weapons ban may have helped limit the ability of two attackers to take lives at the Islamic Center of San Diego last week, according to a prominent gun control organization.
But the executive director of a San Diego gun rights group said the fact the attack even happened is proof the ban failed.
What the two don't dispute is that the video from the attackers' livestream shows one of them using a rifle that appears to comply with California's strict gun laws. While authorities have not confirmed what models of firearms were used in the attack, representatives of the two organizations identified it as a semi-automatic Ruger Mini-14 rifle.
KPBS is not publishing the video, which authorities have not released, the names of the two teenage suspects or their writings, where they wrote they were motivated to conduct the attack by a number of sex and race-related grievances. They wore emblems associated with white supremacists and neo-Nazis and lashed out in their writings against women, Jewish people, Muslims and LGBTQ+ people.
They wrote they were inspired by the 2019 attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that killed 51 Muslims. In their writings, the suspects said they wanted to replicate the Christchurch attack in San Diego.
The attack in Christchurch prompted New Zealand to change its gun laws.
Semiautomatic rifles sold in California have to meet certain criteria that other states don't require.
The barrels must be at least 30 inches long and may not have collapsible or folding stocks. They cannot have a pistol grip behind the trigger, nor one attached at the forward part of the rifle.
And they cannot have a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.
"From everything I saw from the video, (the rifle) looked like it met those criteria and looked like a very stock firearm that you could purchase at many dealers here in California," said Steve Lindley, a policy advisor for the Brady Campaign.
Lindley spent almost 30 years in law enforcement, according to his biography. He worked for the National City Police Department and spent eight years leading the Bureau of Firearms at the California Department of Justice.
Lindley said features such as pistol grips make rifles more lethal.
"Over time it makes it easier for the shooter to have the firearm to their shoulder and in their hands," he said. "Less fatigue, and it lines up a little bit better with your eyesight. The capacity of the magazines and other features on the firearm make it more accurate and easier to use in close quarters."
The video shows the body cam operator firing the Mini-14 until it appears to jam. He struggles to clear the chamber and appears to remove and reinsert the magazine. He works the bolt, apparently unable to chamber a new round.
As the video continues, he continues to struggle with the bolt of the rifle before giving up, drawing a handgun and stepping outside.
The attackers never made it beyond the lobby, where about 100 schoolchildren and staff were inside the center. Authorities say they were delayed by the three men killed in the attack: Mansour Kaziha, 78, Nadir Awad, 57, and armed security guard Amin Abdullah.
"Looking at the reality of this, a good guy with a gun stopped a bad guy with a gun from killing a lot of kids. Full stop,” said Michael Schwartz, the executive director of the San Diego County Gun Owners PAC.
"The assault weapons ban that California has implemented clearly failed — it didn't stop these two people," he said.
Schwartz described the features banned by California as "cosmetic" and that the semi-automatic rifles function the same regardless of their stock, grips or magazine size.
"The idea that ... the (high-capacity) magazine ban stopped them from getting a high-capacity magazine ... there just isn't any evidence or proof," he said.
While high-capacity magazines can't be bought or sold in California, Schwartz said anyone can travel to the next state over and buy as many as they want.
Although the Mini-14 used in the attack is capable of accepting 30 or 40-round magazines, said Lindley, the shooters appeared to only have a California-compliant 10-round magazine.
"If you have ten round magazines, you have ten rounds to shoot before you need to change magazines," he said. "If you have a 30- or 40-round magazine, you can shoot 30 or 40 rounds before you need to reload."
That's important, Lindley said, because when shooters stop to reload, it gives victims time to either escape or attempt to subdue the attacker.
Schwartz said that didn't affect the Islamic center attack.
"If he had a bigger magazine or he had a pistol grip or whatever, it wouldn't have changed the outcome of this at all," he said.
Lindley played a part in crafting more than 100 gun bills, according to the Brady Campaign. He said with so many guns in the United States, authorities can't stop shootings — all they can do is try to limit the damage.
"We can prevent a lot of victimology by lowering the capacity of the magazines," he said.
