Matthew McConaughey Responds To Uvalde Shooting: ‘We Must Do Better’

Actor and Texan Matthew McConaughey, who has spoken out in his home state in favor of some stricter gun laws in the past, wrote an emotional statement in the wake of the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, Texas. McConaughey was born in the town of Uvalde and moved out before high school.

While there was plenty of passion and heart in the statement, it also left some gun control activists puzzled that he didn’t use his platform to directly mention supporting national gun control legislation or plea to Texans more directly to reconsider voting for NRA-backed candidates.

McConaughey begins the message by saying Americans have “proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us.” He called on people to reflect inwards and consider “How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier nation, state and neighborhood tomorrow?”

He also pleaded for Americans to not “exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo.” The Gun Violence Archive reports that over 200 mass shootings have already occurred in 2022. With the constant presence of shootings compounded by the losses of the pandemic as well, burnout and apathy are real concerns for many Americans.

The two statements that could be vaguely interpreted as being pro-gun control were when he said, “it’s time we re-evaluate, and renegotiate our wants and our needs,” and later when he called gun violence in America “an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better.”

In 2018, the actor spoke at the Austin March For Our Lives demonstration where he was slightly more specific about what measures he supported then. March For Our Lives was a 2018 movement that started when a shooter killed 17 people at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

He spoke in support of the student organizers of the March and said while he wasn’t always in favor of taking guns from “law-abiding American citizens,” he spoke in favor of banning all assault weapons for civilians, restricting magazine sizes and expanding background checks.

“And to my friends out there that are responsible owners of these recreational assault weapons that they use for recreation, please let’s take one for the team here and set it down, that issue saves lives,” McConaughey said. He also called to “close the loopholes,” existing in the background check system.