Matthew McConaughey Calls for 'Gun Responsibility’ Following Uvalde Shooting: 'Business as Usual Isn’t Working'

McConaughey called for “responsibility,” urging those who own guns to help prevent an “unnecessary loss of lives,” which he said is not a “partisan issue."

June 6, 2022

Matthew McConaughey speaks on stage at the Lincoln Centennial Celebration — Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Lincoln
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Matthew McConaughey, a native of Uvalde, Texas, is opening up about his thoughts on the shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead at Robb Elementary School.

In an op-ed for the Austin American-Statesman, the actor reveals that he is a supporter of the second amendment, and not gun “control.” Instead, he’s calling for gun “responsibility,” and urging those who own guns to help prevent an “unnecessary loss of lives,” which he says is not a “partisan issue.”

“There is a difference between control and responsibility,” the actor wrote. “The first is a mandate that can infringe on our right; the second is a duty that will preserve it. There is no constitutional barrier to gun responsibility. Keeping firearms out of the hands of dangerous people is not only the responsible thing to do, it is the best way to protect the Second Amendment. We can do both.”

McConaughey continued, sharing a four-point gun safety plan—touching on background checks, an age minimum of 21 years old to purchase an assault rifle, red flag laws, and an assault rifles waiting period on a national level. “I want to be clear,” McConaughey shared. “I am not under the illusion that these policies will solve all of our problems, but if responsible solutions can stop some of these tragedies from striking another community without destroying the Second Amendment, they’re worth it.”

He then concluded by sharing that he believes there isn’t a “choice between guns or no guns.”

“Where I have the right to be me, you have the freedom to be you, and we have the responsibility to be US,” he wrote.

Just this past week, a mother who was handcuffed by U.S. Marshals during the shooting at her children’s school spoke to CBS Mornings about the police response to the active gunman. Angeli Gomez—whose two sons had graduations on the day of the tragic shooting—said she was handcuffed after trying to get in the school.

“The gunshots were still active,” the mother said. “They were not in there. There was no one in there. If anything, when I pulled up my car was closer to the school than where the snipers and everybody that was laying on the ground were.”