#new Rep. AOC says that guns have different outcomes in Vermont than in Brownsville, sparking immediate backlash over the implication of her comments.
“It is true that in rural Vermont, the way guns show up in that landscape is very different than in Brownsville.”
Critics are pointing out that she is making a comparison between the overwhelmingly white, rural state of Vermont and the heavily Black neighborhood of Brownsville in Brooklyn, New York – implying that race and culture are responsible for gun violence and not the guns.
In Vermont, gun ownership is sky-high and people hunt, target, shoot, and keep firearms for self-defense. Gun homicides in Vermont are basically nonexistent.
In Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, illegal guns fuel gang shootings, robberies, and m*rders
AOC basically admitted that the mostly white, law-abiding folks in Vermont handle guns responsibly, while the mostly Black residents in Brownsville do not.
Fast Facts: Vermont is one of the whitest states in America, with a rural, tight-knit culture where guns are tools, not weapons.
Gun homicides are near zero despite some of the highest per-capita gun ownership in the country.
Vermont (state):
White (non-Hispanic): 91.0% to 93.2%
Black: 1.7%
Hispanic or Latino: 2.7%
Asian: 2.3%
All other races combined: under 3%
Brownsville is a classic inner-city Black neighborhood in Brooklyn, with a long history of gangs, and violence.
Brownsville’s 73rd Precinct has a shooting rate four times the New York City average
Black or African American: 64.4% to 69.5%
Hispanic or Latino: 23.5%
White: 4.5% to 5.6%
Asian: 2.2%
Other/multiracial: remainder
