Matthew McConaughey gives impassioned speech at White House after Uvalde shooting

McConaughey spoke during the White House press briefing on gun control proposals in the wake of the horrific mass school shooting in Uvalde that left 22 dead. He told reporters he is not anti-gun and is a gun owner himself but added, “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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McConaughey met with leaders on Capitol Hill earlier this week as lawmakers hold bipartisan discussions on gun reform legislation after a slew of mass shootings.

“Camila and I came here to share my stories from my hometown of Uvalde,” he said. “I came here to take meetings with elected officials on both sides of the aisle. I came here to speak to them — to speak with them and to urge them to speak with each other.”

The actor was in a studio and out of cellphone range but emerged to find his cellphone buzzing with messages about the goings-on in the town where he grew up.

McConaughey spoke about learning to shoot a BB gun as a boy before graduating to a shotgun and about the merits of responsible gun ownership. He shared in great detail the stories of many of the children who died and of the funeral home directors and morticians who hadn’t slept because “they’d been working 24/7 trying to handle so many bodies at once.”

Holding up a drawing, he shared the story of one girl who had her dreams cut short in the tragedy. He described another’s shoes, green Converses, which were later used to identify the child because his body had been mutilated so badly.

Another dreamed of being a marine biologist who wanted to go to college in coastal Corpus Christi. Finally, McConaughey talked about a husband-wife team who were nearing retirement. The wife was killed in the shooting, and the husband died the next day of a heart attack.

“Most of the bodies were so mutilated that only DNA tests and green Converse could identify them,” he said. “Many children were left not only dead but hollow.”

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McConaughey urged bipartisan cooperation on reforms, specifically calling to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 to 21, pass red flag laws with stronger consequences for violations, and implement background checks.

“We want secure and safe schools, and we want gun laws that won’t make it so easy for the bad guys to get these damn guns,” he said. “Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked.”

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He finished by saying it should be a nonpartisan issue.

“There is not a Democratic or Republican value in a single act of these shooters, there’s not,” he said. “But people in power are the ones failing to act.”

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