Actor Matthew McConaughey praised the bipartisan gun safety legislation that President Joe Biden signed into law Saturday as an imperfect bill representing a “shining example” of compromise.
The Oscar-winning actor, who was thrust into the recent firearms debate after 19 children and two teachers were shot and killed in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas, published an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman praising lawmakers for choosing compromise over politically motivated inaction after the legislation was signed. Calling it “a reasonable and holistic step towards addressing America’s gun violence epidemic,” McConaughey argued that the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act could “usher in a new era of building an American Culture of Gun Responsibility.”
“This bill invests in mental health and protects responsible, law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights, due process, and the rule of law,” the 52-year-old Uvalde native wrote. “For responsible gun owners, this bill does not take your guns away or restrict access to firearms. This bill will save innocent lives by keeping guns out of the law-breaking and irresponsible hands that are trying to hijack the Second Amendment.”
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He added that the legislation served as “a responsible investment in the future of our country and in America’s greatest asset, our children.”
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, passed the Senate 65-33 on Thursday evening, with 15 Republicans voting for the measure. Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) negotiated the guns bill.
The legislation passed the House 234-193 on Friday, with 14 House Republicans voting in favor. They then sent the bill to President Joe Biden, who signed it into law Saturday morning.
McConaughey praised the lawmakers for working in good faith to find common ground and create some positive change in the wake of the Texas massacre.
“The Uvalde tragedy ignited bipartisan conversations that created responsible actions by members from both parties,” he wrote. “Members made the right and difficult choice — action — over the easy choice — inaction.”
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The actor, who has claimed he is not seeking political office amid growing speculation about his ambitions, went on to argue that the compromises reached in this bill served as a “quintessential virtue of America.”
“By coming together and finding a sensible balance, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a bill that will help solve a problem we all agree is unbearable,” McConaughey explained. “While this bill isn’t perfect, it is a shining example of a great American potential and political virtue: the act of compromise and validating an opposing viewpoint.”
“This is a quintessential virtue of America, where two seemingly contradictory approaches to the same problem can be true at the same time, AND, when combined, actually reveal a more useful and powerful solution than either on its own.”
