Barack Obama calls California shooting an `act of terrorism`, vows to destroy ISIS

The US President called for tougher gun controls in the wake of the California shootings, starting with a ban on gun purchases for anyone on a US government no-fly list.

Washington: President Barack Obama described the mass shooting in California an "act of terrorism" in an address to the nation four days after the carnage left 14 dead.

Obama said the Muslim couple who mounted the attack "had gone down the dark path of radicalisation, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the West."

"They had stockpiled assault weapons, ammunition and pipe bombs. So this was an act of terrorism," he said in the rare televised primetime address to the nation, only the third he has delivered from the White House Oval Office.

Obama vowed to "destroy" the Islamic State group, branding its fighters "thugs and killers" in an address to the nation four days after the California mass shooting.

"The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it," Obama said in a rare televised address, only his third delivered from the White House Oval Office. "We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us."

The President called for tougher gun controls in the wake of the California shootings, starting with a ban on gun purchases for anyone on a US government no-fly list.

"To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun," Obama said.

"What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semiautomatic weapon? This is a matter of national security."