Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has rejected claims from the NRA she does not real Americans, saying just because her constituents do not want assault weapons in schools they still belong to the same country.

Speaking at the annual convention of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in Indianapolis, Chris Cox, the gun industry group’s chief lobbyist, claimed Ms Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives were trying to stop people from owning weapons, a claim that is not true.

“It used to be that everybody knew that campaigning as a gun-banning socialist was a surefire way to ship your own sink, I mean sink your own ship before it left harbour,” he said.

“But this year, if you aren’t willing to openly attack the second amendment, if you don’t angrily call for every gun ban scheme imaginable including complete disarmament, you will be booed off the Democrat debate stage.”

To loud cheers, he added: “Friends, do you think Nancy Pelosi and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are mainstream in the United States of America? Are they in for a rude awakening in November of next year when the real America goes to the polls.”

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Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 29, who represents New York’s 14th congressional district, has long supported greater gun regulation. After the mass shooting at a mosque in New Zealand that killed 50 people, she posted a tweet that called for universal background checks, the disarming of domestic abusers, mandatory safe storage of firearms and a ban on bump stocks, semiautomatic weapons and high capacity magazines.

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Gun rights supporters claim the second amendment of the constitution gives them the right to own weapons. Contrary to claims on a number of conservative media outlets, Ms Ocasio-Cortez has never said owning gun was not a constitutional right.

On Friday, the congresswoman responded to Mr Cox with a tweet.

“Civics lesson for the NRA: As much as they may not like it, the Bronx and Queens are part of ‘the real America’ too,” she wrote.