EL PASO, Texas -- Most El Paso County Constables are going after some funding from the controversial National Rifle Association.

Constable Angie Sommers out of Precinct Seven in Far West El Paso said the funding will go toward practice ammunition and duty ammunition.

Sommers said right now the constables have to pay for the ammunition out of their own pockets, because it is not part of the county budget.

The grant Sommers is applying for is from the National Rifle Association Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the NRA.

The NRA has had a controversial past, as it is well known for its strong lobbying in Washington, D.C., when it comes to gun rights and the Second Amendment. But Sommers said applying for the grant is not a political statement.

Rather, she's doing it for the safety of the citizens her and her deputy constables are sworn to protect.

"Hopefully it will get all of the constables and deputies out there practicing with their firearms and being so familiar with their firearms that they just instinctively know where there at, what they're doing, how they fire the way that we should be," said Sommers.

Sommers said if she gets the grant from the NRA, the practice ammunition will go toward trying to qualify her deputies quarterly instead of just the once a year qualification required by the state.

Every precinct except for Precinct 4 is part of the grant application.