Mathew McConaughey opened up about gun control and taking action.
The award-winner actor gave a touching speech on Tuesday while visiting the White House for press briefing, Mathew McConaughey spoke about the kids who tragically lost their lives due to gun violence in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where the actor was born.
Mathew and his wife Brazilian model and designer Camila Alves had spent a great deal of time with families of the children who were killed in his hometown amid the unfortunate gun attack.
He showed pictures of their artwork and brought to the briefing room the green Converse shoes that one girl wore every day that were used to identify her body after the shooting.
Matthew @McConaughey: "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?"
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 7, 2022
Also, "America, you and me, we are not as divided as we are being told we are. No." pic.twitter.com/kGVoVVNBLL
She had drawn a heart on one of the shoes. He said he needed to tell their stories to show how action needed to be taken to honor the lives of the 19 children and two teachers killed at Robb Elementary School last month.
"You know what every one of these parents wanted, what they asked us for? What every parent separately expressed in their own way to Camila and me? That they want their children's dreams to live on. That they want their children's dreams to continue, to accomplish something after they are gone. They want to make their loss of life matter," McConaughey said.
Mathew McConaughey added that wanted to enact meaningful gun legislation reform and called for universal background checks, raising the minimum age for purchasing an AR-15 to 21, a waiting period for purchasing AR-15s and the implementation of red flag laws.
"These are reasonable, practical, tactical regulations to our nation, states, communities, schools and homes. Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals. These regulations are not a step back -- they're a step forward for a civil society and, and the Second Amendment," McConaughey said.
Matthew @McConaughey's wife Camilla holds green high-top Converse shoes of the one of the Uvalde, TX victims.
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 7, 2022
"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." pic.twitter.com/uImP8xutsn
The The Lincoln Lawyer actor spoke in detail about the kids' future plans before they were killed, stating that one wanted to be a marine biologist, one had been preparing to read a Bible verse at church the next week, another kid wanted to go to art school in Paris.
"You could feel the shock in the town. You could feel the pain, the denial, the disillusion, anger, blame, sadness, loss of lives, dreams halted. Due to the exceptionally large exit wounds of an AR-15 rifle, most of the bodies so mutilated that only DNA test or green converse could identify them. Many children were left not only dead but hollow. So, yes, counselors are going to be needed in Uvalde for a long time."
"We got to take a sober, humble, and honest look in the mirror and rebrand ourselves based on what we truly value. What we truly value. We got to get some real courage and honor our immortal obligations instead of our party affiliations," McConaughey said.
He continued, "Enough with the counterpunching. Enough of the invalidation of the other side. Let's come to the common table that represents the American people. Find a middle ground, the place where most of us Americans live anyway. Especially on this issue. Because I promise you, America, you and me, we are not as divided as we are being told we are."
