North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Tuesday called state Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's recent comments supporting the right to own AR-15-style firearms "dangerous" and "not who we are."

Robinson attended the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Texas over the weekend, though the Democratic governor's latest jab at the lieutenant governor was in response to his comments from a sermon Robinson gave earlier this month at Midpoint Church.

"I got them AR-15s in case the government gets too big for its britches," Robinson said to a congregation at the church in Nash County on May 15. "Because I'm going to fill the backside of those britches with some lead. I'm going to say it to you plain: Your boy ain't going down without swinging."

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Cooper, a Democrat who was elected in 2016, sharply rebuked Robinson's prior comments in a Tuesday tweet, calling his words shameful to the people of North Carolina and posting a clip of Robinson's sermon.

"This is dangerous and not who we are as patriotic North Carolinians," Cooper tweeted. The social media post was widely circulated as the public debate over gun control reignited last week following the deadly mass shooting that killed 19 children and two educators in Uvalde, Texas.

"@MarkRobinsonNC's assault weapon threats are bad enough, but an elected official sworn to uphold the constitution advocating violent overthrow of our govt shames NC and puts our safety and our democracy at risk," Cooper said.

He was backed by the state's Attorney General Josh Stein, also a Democrat, who called Robinson's statement "incredibly dangerous."

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"To say that you have an AR-15 to shoot government officials is simply unacceptable. We need leaders who are focused on serving the public, not pushing pretend culture wars. We are better than this," Stein tweeted.

Both Robinson and Stein are seen as likely candidates to make a bid for governor in 2024. Cooper will have to leave the office due to term limits.