Donald Trump to address NRA for first time since Parkland shooting

President had backed range of gun restrictions before backing off

Donald Trump with National Rifle Association officials during last year's Leadership Forum in Atlanta, Georgia (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Donald Trump reportedly plans to address the National Rifle Association (NRA) for the first time since a Florida school shooting led the president to break with the influential gun group.

In returning to speak at the NRA’s annual convention, as he did last year, Mr Trump would fortify his ties to a prominent supporter. The group endorsed him during the presidential campaign and spent heavily on his behalf.

But that was before Mr Trump publicity repudiated some of the NRA’s core beliefs and encouraged senators to defy the organisation, stunning much of Washington.

During a meeting with senators to discuss a shooting that killed 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Mr Trump acknowledged the gun lobby’s clout by telling senators they were “afraid of the NRA”.

Later in the meeting Mr Trump endorsed stripping gun owners of their firearms without due process, a proposal that would be anathema to the NRA and potentially unconstitutional.

“Take the firearms first and then go to court”, the president suggested.

The White House has downplayed any suggestion of a subsequent rift, saying the president has since met with NRA representatives and reassured them he shared their point of view.

“Good (Great) meeting in the Oval Office tonight with the NRA”! Mr Trump said on Twitter days after his meeting with senators.

While he directed a move to ban on devices called bump stocks, which allow more rapid firing, Mr Trump has not made a sustained push for measures like expanded background checks or raising the gun-buying age to 21 since backing them in the aftermath of the Florida shooting.

He has also advocated arming some teachers as a way to bolster school security, a controversial concept embraced by the NRA.