Bannon warns: "end of everything" if Trump supports gun controls

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President Trump may say he's a defender of gun ownership rights, but with all the gun control pressure he'll be under after Las Vegas, how do we know he'll resist it — especially after the debt limit deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, and his flirtation with a deal on DACA?

Bottom line: Trump's allies, both inside and out of the White House, are mostly sure he'll resist because he owes too much to the NRA and its supporters — but even some of them aren't 100 percent sure.

What they're saying: Since the Las Vegas shooting, we've spoken or texted with more than 20 sources inside and out of the White House — all people who've worked close enough to Trump to have something useful to say about his likely next moves. Most say they can't imagine him doing a Chuck-and-Nancy deal on gun control.

They say that while he bathed in the glowing media coverage after his surprise debt ceiling deal with the Democrats; he'll be very reluctant to do anything like that on guns:

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The NRA relationship: "POTUS (correctly) believes he doesn't owe anything to most traditional Republican outside groups, because they didn't lift a finger to help him in the election," said a Trump administration source. "NRA is very much the exception. They stayed loyal through it all and kept spending." We're told Trump feels a personal connection to the NRA and is close to the NRA's top lobbyist, Chris Cox.

People he talks to haven't heard old views surfacing: "In the past Donald was very pro-gun control on automatic rifles, but I doubt he's going to make an issue out of it this time and pick a fight with the NRA," said a New York-based conservative operative who has advised Trump. "Perhaps down the road."

His base might leave him: As Steve Bannon and other conservatives close to Trump argue, gun owners are even more passionate about their issue than immigration hardliners. And, as a senior GOP aide pointed out, DACA has at least has a chance of passage. "Most agree something needs to be done," the source said. "Can't say the same for gun control — at least in Congress."

His sons: A number of sources close to Trump cited the strong pro-Second Amendment views of his sons Don Jr. and Eric. Don Jr. made much of his passions for shooting and hunting on the campaign and is closely affiliated with the NRA.

Yes, but: Almost everybody we spoke to hesitated when predicting Trump's next move on guns. Some mentioned his taste for bipartisan deal-making, and one source who has worked closely with Trump thought a deal with the Democrats on guns wasn't out of the question — especially as an emotional reaction to the carnage.

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