Debating morals versus economics, Richland County flip-flops on tax deal for gun-maker
After nine young people were shot and two others injured at a party in a Columbia park early Saturday, Richland County Councilwoman Gretchen Barron said she met with the families of the injured.
They asked her, she said, about her recent support for tax incentives for a local gun manufacturer to expand its production facility in the county.
“I stood by my vote,” Barron said Tuesday night, speaking to her fellow council members four days after that mass shooting. “Because this is about business. This is not necessarily about 11 people getting shot over the weekend. This is about doing right, expanding services, expanding business opportunities and getting more people employed over here.”
By a procedural quirk, Richland County Council on Tuesday walked back an earlier decision that would have denied a 60% tax break to gun manufacturer FN America, a business that has operated for more than 40 years in the county and hopes to expand its facilities on Clemson Road. Two council members, Cheryl English and Derrek Pugh, flipped their earlier votes after a lengthy debate over the morals of gun regulation versus the economics of local tax breaks for businesses.
Barron said that though she was “heavy hearted” over the recent shooting in her district, which covers the north-central part of the county, “I remove my feelings” when it came to considering what she believed was best economically for Richland County.
Other council members who supported the incentive deal for FN America — which produces handguns, machine guns and other weapons for military, law enforcement and private consumers — said they are concerned about gun violence but did not find it appropriate to conflate the moral debate over guns with an economic development opportunity for the county.
“I have strong concerns about gun violence and the need for gun control regulations in our community,” said Councilman Paul Livingston, the longest-serving member of the council. “I think there are too many guns and too few regulations. However, what’s before us now is an economic development matter. I believe making economic decisions solely on moral perspective can be very problematic, dangerous, and lead us down a slippery slope. Where do we draw the line?”
Livingston, later echoed by council Chairman Overture Walker, referenced the county’s support of Mark Anthony Brewing, which makes alcoholic beverages at the county’s Pineview Industrial Park, and Scout Motors, which plans a massive electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Blythewood, as makers of two potentially dangerous products that have both received significant tax breaks from the county.
Both Livingston and Walker said they believe gun regulation should happen at the state and federal levels. But locally, they said, County Council’s responsibility is to address “root causes” of gun violence such as mental health, education and economic opportunities.
Livingston and Walker were among the seven council members who approved the tax break for FN America on Tuesday, along with Barron, English, Pugh, Jason Branham and Don Weaver. Councilwoman Jesica Mackey abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest, while Councilwomen Yvonne McBride, Chakisse Newton and Allison Terracio voted against the tax break, as they have in previous votes.
“I don’t believe I have heard anything about this corporation trying to be a good citizen when it comes to any kind of common sense gun laws or legislation,” Terracio said, adding that since her last vote against the FN America deal, she has received both “overwhelmingly positive” feedback from her own constituents as well as harassment from “the bots and the trolls” online.
“A good corporate citizen, I believe, would be participating in some of the regulations that would hopefully benefit the reputation of the manufacturer and those who would carry their weapons,” she said.
Beyond the issue of gun regulation, McBride said she continued to stand against the FN tax break on economic principles, as she has before.
“My vote was based on the fact that FN has been in Richland County for over 40 years, and Richland County has been good to FN ... for 40 years,” McBride said. “The purpose of incentives is to encourage businesses to come in, but not to take care of them for the entire time.”
McBride said she also takes issue with a tax incentive being used to help a company sell guns commercially to private citizens.
“FN can sell guns or do whatever they want to in Richland County. That is not the issue. The issue is the use of tax incentives,” she said. “Our goal is to give public assistance so that eventually they will be able to get off of public assistance and take care of themselves. What we are establishing is corporate welfare on the backs of citizens.”
The tax break for FN America would have been dead after an earlier council vote on April 18, in which council members Pugh and English joined McBride, Terracio and Newton in voting against the deal. However, a rare but occasionally used council procedure allows council members to reconsider a previous decision.
English said she reconsidered her stance on the incentive deal after learning more about the company’s economic impact on the county and its relationship with the military.
In the time since Richland County originally denied the incentive deal for FN America, the company announced last week that it plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Pickens County, with a $33 million investment expected to create about 176 jobs in the Upstate.
On Wednesday, the gun manufacturer announced it will invest $18 million in its Richland County expansion and plans to create approximately 102 new jobs. FN America said it will break ground on the expansion project this year and expects to complete the project in the first half of 2024. Information about hiring can be found at https://careers.fnamerica.com.
This story was originally published May 3, 2023 at 11:44 AM.
