Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey pleads at the White House for gun control [Video]

• Actor Matthew McConaughey, who is also a native of Uvalde, joined the White House briefing to talk about the shooting in his hometown.
• McConaughey paid tribute to the victims and their lost dreams, then called on lawmakers to establish “responsible gun ownership.”
• McConaughey suggested “reasonable, practical, tactical regulations” such as background checks, raising the minimum age to purchase, waiting period, and red flag laws.

Actor and Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey made emotional remarks during the White House briefing on Tuesday. He paid tribute to the victims of the school shooting at Robb Elementary and called on lawmakers to act on gun legislation.

McConaughey pleaded, “Make the loss of these lives matter.”

The actor and his wife, Camila Alves McConaughey, visited the Uvalde community last week and spent time with the families of the 19 children and two teachers who were killed.

He got emotional as he talked about the lost dreams of the victims. One victim, 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez, had dreamed about becoming a marine biologist.

McConaughey’s wife held green Converse shoes, with a heart drawn on one shoe to represent Rodriguez’s “love of nature.” The actor said that the green Converse shoes she wore every day “turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her at the shooting.”

According to two sources familiar with the matter, the shoes brought by the McConaugheys were replicas, and the shoes worn by the victim are with her family.

The actor talked about their meeting with a cosmetologist “well-versed in mortuary makeup” whose task is “making the victims appear as peaceful and natural as possible for their open-casket viewings.”

But because of “the exceptionally large exit wounds of an AR-15 rifle,” the bodies “needed much more than makeup to be presentable. They needed extensive restoration.”

He added, “Most of the bodies [were] so mutilated that only DNA tests, or green Converse, could identify them.”

McConaughey said that he got his first shotgun in Uvalde, where he “learned responsible gun ownership,” and where he was “taught to revere the power and the capability” of a gun.

He then stated that the Uvalde shooting has shown that changes must be made.

McConaughey said, “We need background checks. We need to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 rifle to 21. We need a waiting period for those rifles. We need red flag laws and consequences for those who abuse them. These are reasonable, practical, tactical regulations.”

“Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals,” he argued. “These regulations are not a step back. They’re a step forward for civil society.”

McConaughey added, “This should not be a partisan issue. We got to get some real courage and honor our moral obligations.”

The actor has met with lawmakers in the Capitol to call for action. He also “met briefly” with President Joe Biden “to talk about the importance of taking action keeping our communities safe.”

Source: NBC News