SAN DIEGO -- Just two weeks before the election, the National Rifle Association is taking aim at Sheriff Bill Gore, accusing him of granting concealed weapons permits only to his friends.

The NRA sent orange cards to members in San Diego County and sent 20,000 e-mails claiming that Gore is not being fair with the permits.

One of the alerts sent by the NRA reads: “The truth is the few permits he has issued have been limited to campaign contributors, personal friends and others who fit his arbitrary definition of ‘good cause.’”

Gore said that happened 15 years ago under another administration but not now.

“We have taken the politics out of process and we have 1,400 in San Diego. It's more than Orange County, more than Los Angeles County," said Gore. "I think we have a good middle of the road policy which conforms with requirements of state law."

Jim Duffy, one of the candidates running for sheriff, said personal protection was a good enough reason to have a gun permit.

“For Bill Gore & Bill Kolender, it was every reason to find a reason not to give you a permit and I want to change that,” said Duffy. “I want law abiding citizens to have a permit if they have a good background & go thru training.”

That sentiment was shared by the other man in the three way race for sheriff.

“I talked to one man, back from Iraq, wounded twice, [who] says, ‘I've done bleeding for my country & they don't trust me to protect myself,’” said Jay LeSuer, another candidate for sheriff.

From 1987 to 2007, the number of concealed weapons permits in San Diego County decreased from just over 2,100 to less than 1,500.

During the same 20 year span, San Bernardino County more than doubled the number of permits approved from just over 1,000 to almost 2,500.

San Francisco saw 11 concealed weapons permits in 1987. Twenty years later, it approved six.