Donald Trump plans to meet with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to discuss potentially banning gun sales to those on the terrorism watchlist, he tweeted Wednesday.
The mass shooting Sunday at a gay nightclub in Orlando has renewed the debate over whether people on the terror watchlist should be allowed to purchase guns.
{mosads}Omar Mateen, 29, is suspected of killing 49 and injuring 53 others before being killed in a shootout by law enforcement.
Mateen reportedly appeared on a federal watchlist for 10 months in 2013 and 2014. He was removed from the list in March 2014 after a FBI investigation against him had concluded.
Had Mateen remained on the list, federal officials would have been notified when he purchased two guns earlier this month. Mateen would not have been banned from ultimately buying the weapons he used, however.
Trump has said in the past that he opposes letting someone on the terror watchlist purchase a gun.
“If somebody is on a watchlist and an enemy of state, and we know it’s an enemy of state, I would keep them away, absolutely,” he said in November.
But gun groups like the NRA say that could deny innocent people the right to bear arms if they are mistakenly listed.
The issue could be a difficult one for Trump and the NRA. The nation’s largest gun lobby endorsed Trump in late May, arguing the presumptive GOP presidential nominee would protect Second Amendment rights.
The meeting comes as Democrats vow to push again for a vote on legislation to bar suspected terrorists from buying firearms.
The measure came up for a vote in December, but almost all Republicans opposed it.
The NRA on Tuesday cautioned against rushing to pass tougher gun laws, arguing they would do little to deter terrorism.
“Radical Islamic terrorists are not deterred by gun control laws,” Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, wrote in a USA Today op-ed.
— This story was updated at 10:47 a.m.