Gov. Cooper in Asheville, Canton talks layoffs, school shootings; 'I am a gun owner'

Gov. Roy Cooper, speaking in an Asheville early childhood learning center, said he and most gun owners support rules such as red flag laws that would reduce the number of students shot in their schools.

"I am a gun owner. I'd say the vast majority of Second Amendment-supporting gun owners in this state support stronger background checks and understand that we've got to work to keep guns out of the wrong hands," he said.

Cooper made the April 6 comments less than three weeks after a shooter killed three children and three adults in the private Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. It was also a week after the Republican-controlled General Assembly eased gun access, overriding Cooper's veto of a law to do away with the requirement that pistol buyers first get approval from their sheriff.

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The Democratic two-term governor was making a swing through Western North Carolina that included Asheville and Canton, where more than a 1,000 workers are expected to by laid off this summer with the closure of a more than century-old paper mill.

He spoke about supporting early childhood education, gun ownership regulations, helping Canton after the shutdown and clawing back tax money given to paper products company Pactiv-Evergreen.

Megan Wiseman, a Buncombe County Schools specialist present during Cooper's visit of Irene Wortham Early Learning Center, said not enough is being done to protect children and teachers.

"I'm a parent and a teacher and I am concerned. And I'd like to see more thought being put into our safety," Wiseman said.

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Cooper noted that guns had recently surpassed car accidents as the No. 1 cause of death in children and said ending sheriff pistol permits "was going in the wrong direction." He urged legislators instead to enact stronger background checks and "red flag" laws to temporarily seize guns from people suspected of domestic violence, at risk of suicide or exhibiting other behavior deemed dangerous by a judge.

"We cannot tolerate this. We need to take proactive steps to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, people who are a danger to themselves or others, the severely dangerously mentally ill," he said. "These gun permits were one way to strengthen the background checks for people who were purchasing firearms."

Speaking in support of early childhood education, Cooper criticized the House's recent budget proposal that did not include all of the $1.5 billion he recommended for such programs as well as child care.

The governor's proposal would spend $500 million on extending N.C. Child Care Stabilization Grants, something the Wortham Center used to raise teacher salaries, including boosting starting pay for employees with a high school education to a $15 an hour.

The House budget proposes $200 million for the grants. It also funds less than the $200 million increase the governor wants to increase child care subsidy rates in rural and poorer communities.

He called early childhood education "critical" and said the House budget "fails to make these investments that are necessary for our children, parents and businesses."

No word from Canton mill owners

Three weeks after Cooper sent a letter to Canton mill owners Pactiv-Evergreen warning he would seek to get back $12 million in tax dollars given to the company as economic incentives, the governor, speaking at Pisgah High School, said he has received little in terms of communication, "only by letter and only through attorney."

The letter, he said, "didn't say a lot."

A Job Maintenance and Capital Development grant agreement announced in late 2014 between the state and two subsidiaries required the company to retain at least 800 full-time workers through the end of 2024, according to Cooper.

But Cooper during his April 6 remarks said without notifying him or other state officials, the company announced March 6 it would close by the summer, eliminating about 1,300 positions from a plant that has served as the economic and cultural hub of the community.

His letter urged the company to reconsider or look at selling the plant − or risk having to give back the tax money.

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He pledged continued assistance for the workers and others who depended on the plant indirectly such as businesses that sold to workers. He and Mayor Zeb Smathers said a way people can help Canton residents was by coming to the town to shop and use its services.

"These places are still going to be open," Smathers said. "We need a support local now more than ever because these businesses took that risk and wanted to call Canton home well before the news of the mill closure, and they still will be here."

Joel Burgess has lived in WNC for more than 20 years, covering politics, government and other news. He's written award-winning stories on topics ranging from gerrymandering to police use of force. Got a tip? Contact Burgess at jburgess@citizentimes.com, 828-713-1095 or on Twitter @AVLreporter. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.