“If law enforcement had the ability to do that, why didn’t they?” said Craig DeLuz of the Firearms Policy Coalition. “We have some of the strictest gun laws in the country, and this still occurs.”

He added: “This goes to show that the only people affected by these laws are the law-abiding. There was a failure of the government to enforce those laws, and yet the answer folks keep coming up with is that we need more gun laws.”

Via the East Bay Times:

The Tehama County mass shooter was barred from having firearms, and he once surrendered his rifle at the behest of a judge. But Kevin Janson Neal still ended up with homemade and borrowed weapons he used to kill five people, it was learned Wednesday — reviving questions on whether strict laws and police can effectively keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

Neal, who was shot and killed by authorities after his Tuesday rampage, was known widely in his community as an unstable character who fired hundreds of rounds indiscriminately at his home. But a torrent of complaints from neighbors spurred nothing more than passive door-knocking at Neal’s home, officials acknowledged.

Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said authorities responded to calls regarding Neal several times, but the 44-year-old Neal wouldn’t open the door, so they left.

Read more here.