The US Senate has rejected plans to tighten gun controls, including the restriction of weapons sales to people on terrorism watch lists.

Proposals were brought before the Senate, sponsored by the Democrats, following the death of 49 people in an attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida on June 12.

However the senators voted along party lines, with the majority Republicans blocking the gun control bill.

The Republicans say the fight should not be about gun control but rather how to tackle Islamic extremism which they believe is the root cause of most gun-related violence in the US, while the Democrats are proposing a gun laws reform to make it more difficult for people on the terrorism watch list to be able to purchase guns.

Republicans and members of the National Rifle Association complained that the bills put forward by the Democrats violated the constitutional right to bear arms. They are concerned that without enough “due process”, law-abiding Americans wrongly named on watch lists would be prevented from buying weapons.

In the US, gun dealers are licensed by the federal government and people can be prevented from buying weapons if they have mental health problems or are guilty of serious crimes, but there is no specific prohibition for those on the terrorism watch list. There are currently about one million people on that list.

However, there are other ways to buy guns in the US that do not require any background checks, for example, at gun shows or from a private vendor online.