‘I’m a different man now’: McConaughey shares how Uvalde shooting changed him

McConaughey talked about the “penetrating” experience he had visiting Robb Elementary school in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas, shortly following a mass shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY GIVES IMPASSIONED SPEECH AT WHITE HOUSE AFTER UVALDE SHOOTING

“I’m a different man now. My wife is a different woman now. My children, I believe, are different children now,” McConaughey said. “And our hope is that we come out of this — especially for my children — we come out of this valuing our own life, valuing life more than we did before, and appreciate the things that we do have, the opportunities we have in our life, and to change things for the better.”

Host Bret Baier pushed the actor, asking him why he’s so impassioned and if it was a result of political ambitions he might have.

“I’m not running for political office,” McConaughey said. “I’m here because on the 24th of May I got the news that there was a mass shooting in the town I was born in, in Uvalde, Texas. As I said earlier, [I] went home, held the kids, hugged them tighter than usual. … Every loved one that lost a family member, they wanted the loss of their loved one’s life to matter. I think that’s what we’re talking about here, here in D.C. today. How can we make it matter?”

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","_id":"00000181-405a-d421-ada5-4c5f3b480000","_type":"00000161-b425-d761-a563-f7e77e270000"}”>Matthew McConaghey
McConaughey has written about his own opinion to raise the age of AR-style rifle sales from 18 to 21. The Uvalde shooter was 18 when he bought the rifle used in the massacre. The actor claimed that he’s spoken to “responsible gun owners” who “own AR-15s” that agree with him on an age change and even a pause-after-purchase policy. His interactions spoke to McConaughey’s theory that most of the country is in the middle of the political spectrum.

“I think we’re being told we’re more divided than we are. I think that’s the veil over the masses’ eyes,” McConaughey said. “We got to pull that veil off, quit drinking the Kool-Aid, because we’re hearing it from both sides, extreme Right and extreme Left, and they have the microphones. The masses have the numbers, [and] we’ve got to take the mic back, kick them off democracy’s vote and say, ‘No, you’re not steering this vote.'”

The interview coincides with McConaughey speaking at Tuesday’s White House press briefing on gun control proposals in the wake of a spate of mass shootings nationwide. He told reporters he is not anti-gun and is a gun owner himself but added that “Uvalde is where I learned responsible gun ownership.”

He continued by saying he is hopeful there is “a viable path forward” to pass laws to make children safer.

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Earlier this week, the actor met with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) to discuss gun “responsibility” policies rather than gun control.