Matthew McConaughey Gets Behind The Gun Debate, And He’s Not Happy

"People in power have failed to act..."

Matthew McConaughey Gets Behind The Gun Debate, And He’s Not Happy

Image Credit: AP Images

Just over two weeks ago on May 24th, nineteen children and two adults were tragically killed during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School, located in Uvalde County, Texas. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the shooting was the 213th mass shooting in the US this year – and thirty-three mass shootings have taken place since.


Oscar-winning actor, Matthew McConaughey – who was born and raised in Uvalde County – gave a moving speech about the shooting just hours ago at The White House and spoke about the horrifying incident and how the victims were murdered in a truly brutal way.

“Maite [Rodriguez – one of the victims] wore green high top Converse with a heart she had hand-drawn on the right toe because they represented her love of nature… Wore these every day; green Converse with a heart on the right toe. These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting.”

Matthew McConaughey

McConaughey also spoke about how his hometown is where he was taught how to use and “revere” guns and talked about responsible gun ownership.

“Uvalde, Texas is where I was born. I swear my mum taught kindergarten less than a mile from Robb Elementary. Uvalde is where I learned to master a Daisy BB gun. I took that two years before I graduated to a 410 shotgun. Uvalde is where I was taught to revere the power and capability of the tool that we call a gun.”

But then McConaughey implored that America needs to introduce stricter gun control laws and it’s not okay for American citizens to use the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution – the right of the people to keep and bear arms – as an excuse for not wanting stricter gun control.

“We need responsible gun ownership. Responsible gun ownership. We need background checks, we need to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 rifle to 21. We need a waiting period for those rifles, we need red flag laws and consequences for those who abuse them. These are reasonable, practical, tactical regulations.”

Matthew McConaughey

“Responsible gun owners are fed up with the second amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals… people are hurting. Families are, parents are and look, as divided as our country is, this gun responsibility issue is one that we agree on more than we don’t.”

McConaughey also wisely argued that this particular issue is not a Republican or Democratic – the two major political parties in the US – issue and needs to be addressed regardless of “political affiliations” as people are constantly dying because of mass shootings and rather relaxed gun control laws.

“… People in power have failed to act so we’re asking you, and I’m asking you will you please ask yourselves, ‘can both sides rise above?’, ‘can both sides see beyond the political problem at hand and admit that we have a life preservation problem on our hands?’ So, we got a chance right now to reach for and to grasp a higher ground above our political affiliations.”

Matthew McConaughey

You can watch McConaughey’s entire twenty-minute speech here.

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