The lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association has stepped into the fray over Blackwater Worldwide training facility in Otay Mesa. KPBS Reporter Amita Sharma has details.
The NRA recently sent an e-mail encouraging its members to urge San Diego leaders to support Blackwater's indoor naval training center. San Diego city officials had said the project needed further review. But a federal judge ordered the city to issue a permit allowing the center to open. The city did but is also appealing that ruling. The NRA's Andrew Arulanandam says the group's support for the project should be no surprise.
Arulanandam: If you look at the history of the NRA, the NRA was founded for this very purpose and that is to provide training for our men and women in uniform.
But Robert Spitzer, author of the book "The Politics of Gun Control," says Blackwater and the NRA are not natural allies. He says the NRA's support may trigger suspicion among members.
Spitzer: Including a suspicion within some at least within the NRA ranks for any force anything that seems to resemble a private army or private militia that could be viewed as a force that might threaten the liberties Americans whether on American soil or through its activities elsewhere.
Yet, Spitzer adds the NRA may see an opportunity down the road for its members to use Blackwater's shooting facilities.
Amita Sharma, KPBS News.
