Trump was a gun owner well before he ran for president in 2015. However, his license was exempted from public records as he submitted his firearm license application with a request for confidentiality. He reportedly maintained his license throughout his presidency, even though he's had a permanent Secret Service detail since he became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee ahead of the 2016 election.

In a 2012 interview, Trump told the Washington Times that he owned a .45-caliber H&K handgun and a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol. He also suggested that the deadly Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting that year could have been prevented if moviegoers were armed (the shooter was wearing body armor, carried an AR-15 rifle and picked up 160 pounds of ammunition from a FedEx store before the shooting).

"If some of the people in the movie theater had a gun, they’d have been shooting at him," Trump said at the time. "Nobody had a gun so they were totally defenseless."

Trump also told a conservative French newspaper in 2016 that he "always" carries a gun on his person, and made similar comments following a terrorist attack at the Bataclan music hall.

"I always carry a weapon on me. If I'd been at the Bataclan or one of those bars, I would have opened fire," Trump told Valeurs Actuelles. "Perhaps I would have died, but at least I would have taken a shot. The worst thing is the powerlessness to respond to those who want to kill you."

The former president losing his gun rights is a major development for Trump, given his strong support from the gun lobby. If elected to a second term, Trump has promised to roll back numerous gun reform policies enacted during President Joe Biden's administration. This includes the Safer Communities Act, which was the gun legislation Congress passed in response to the massacre of more than a dozen young children and teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas in 2022.

Trump is expected to officially file his appeal of the 34 felony convictions after Judge Juan Merchan enters his sentencing order on July 11. If the former president is successful in his appeal, his gun rights could be restored.