While Donald Trump received the most gun lobby funding of any presidential candidate ever, the association between the White House and gun advocates goes further back.

The state of the alliance has centred on the gun control versus gun rights debate, which focuses on an individual’s right to bear arms and the government’s obligation to counter violence and crime.

The mass shooting in Las Vegas has reignited the controversy over gun ownership laws, which first galvanised several gun rights activists – primarily members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) – in 1968 after the passage of the Gun Control Act (GCA).

This act prohibited the sale of guns to convicted felons, drug users and the mentally ill, and also required firearm dealers to obtain licenses and imposed interstate sale restrictions. The law also increased the age to legally purchase a handgun to 21.

In 1975, the NRA established its lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, which aimed to nullify the 1968 law.

President Ronald Reagan, an NRA member, signed the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act in 1986, easing some of the penalties of the GCA and banning a federal registry of gun owners.

Gun culture evolved in 1981 after John Hinckley Jr tried to assassinate Mr Reagan but instead nearly killed the President’s press secretary, James Brady. Mr Brady and his wife Sarah then became activists.

“You can begin to see a sea change of attitudes during this time,” said Sarah Brady, according to MSNBC. “The NRA was fighting against the cop-killing bullets and plastic guns, and we got into an alliance with law enforcement and we just got together and said, ‘What’s the first thing we should do?’ And we all said, ‘Background checks.’”

In 1991, Mr Reagan said at a ceremony at George Washington University: “I want to tell all of you here today something that I’m not sure you know. You do know that I’m a member of the NRA. My position on right to bear arms is well known. But I want you to know something else. And I’m going to say it in clear unmistakable language. I support the Brady bill and I urge the Congress to enact it.”

President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act into law in 1993, creating a system of federal background checks for purchases from federally licensed gun dealers.

During the Clinton administration, the White House’s relationship with the NRA became contentious, with Mr Clinton working to curb the power and influence of the association. In 1994, he signed into law a crime bill that included a ban on assault weapons.

Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People scramble for shelter at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People carry a person at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People run from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after gun fire was heard David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A handout photo released via Twitter by Eiki Hrafnsson (@EirikurH) showing concertgoers running away from the scene (C) after shots range out at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Eiki Hrafnsson Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People lie on the ground at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A man in a wheelchair is taken away from the Route 91 Harvest country music festival after hearing gun fire David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures People stand on the street outside the Mandalay Bay hotel near the scene of the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA/Paul Buck Las Vegas shooting – in pictures FBI agents confer in front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting during a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas police run by a banner on the fence at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival grounds after shots were fired David Becker/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures An injured person is tended to in the intersection of Tropicana Ave. and Las Vegas Boulevard after a mass shooting at a country music festival Ethan Miller/Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Metro Police officers pass by the front of the Tropicana hotel-casino after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip AP/John Locher Las Vegas shooting – in pictures A cowboy hat lays in the street after shots were fired near a country music festival in Las Vegas Getty Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Las Vegas Metro Police and medical workers stage in the intersection of Tropicana Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard South after a mass shooting at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip Reuters/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus Las Vegas shooting – in pictures Sheriff Joe Lombardo (2-R) speaking during a press briefing in the aftermath of the active shooter incident on Las Vegas Boulevard EPA

But gun-control advocates paid a heavy political price for Mr Clinton's efforts: The NRA mobilised its members, which tend to be more politically active than supporters of gun control, according to the Washington Post. In 1994, the Republicans reclaimed the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, with the issue of gun control further dividing Democrats and Republicans.

In 2004, President George W Bush, who was never a member of the NRA, said: “I did think we ought to extend the assault weapons ban, and was told the fact that the bill was never going to move, because Republicans and Democrats were against the assault weapon ban, people of both parties. I believe law-abiding citizens ought to be able to own a gun. I believe in background checks at gun shows or anywhere to make sure that guns don’t get in the hands of people that shouldn’t have them.”

About 11 years before, his father, former President George HW Bush, wrote a letter to the NRA two weeks after the Oklahoma City bombing, resigning as a life member of the association.

No Republican president appears to have been as NRA-friendly as Mr Trump.

In April, Mr Trump declared to members of the NRA: “The eight-year assault on your Second Amendment freedoms has come to a crashing end.”

He also assured association – which had donated more than $30m to his presidential campaign – that it now has “a true friend and champion in the White House.”

His comments came after he signed a resolution in February blocking an Obama-era rule that would have prevented an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders from buying guns.