Sunday’s massacre in Las Vegas, in which a single gunman with an unusually large arsenal killed 59 people and injured more than 500, inevitably reignited the gun-control debate, with Democrats calling for stricter measures while Republican pundits like Bill O’Reilly labeled mass shootings “the price of freedom.” Perhaps most notable among the conservatives urging Donald Trump to keep gun laws intact was Steve Bannon, the president’s self-appointed ideological enforcer and newly reinstated Breitbart News chieftain, who told Axios on Monday that if Trump starts to lean toward the center on gun control, he risks self-sabotage.

“Impossible: will be the end of everything,” Bannon said in a text message, predicting that the reaction from Trump’s base would be “actually worse” than its response to Trump’s recent support of an amnesty bill for undocumented immigrants. At least one other source who’s worked closely with Trump seemed to think Bannon had reason to be concerned: “On top of the immense political pressure, the visuals Trump will see, hundreds of severely injured young people, could provoke him to act,” the source told Axios, noting that the visuals-oriented president might consider some sort of deal to score political points. “I’m 100 percent Second Amendment, but . . . people who had their brains blown out is enough to make anyone with a heart consider anything to prevent this.”

But most sources close to Trump think it’s unlikely he’ll budge on gun control, making Bannon’s angry texts—like his support of Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate primary—less of a threat than an opportunity to claim an easy victory. Though he does have a tendency to waver on core campaign pledges, Trump is almost certainly inclined to agree with Bannon, especially given his affiliation with the gun lobby. “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,” a Trump administration source told Axios. “N.R.A. is very much the exception. They stayed loyal through it all and kept spending.” If and when Trump rewards that loyalty, Bannon’s cheerleaders at Breitbart can draw another notch on their belts.