Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey visits White House to push for stricter gun laws and mental health reform

our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.Actor Matthew McConaughey, a Uvalde native, called for bipartisan action on mental health reform, stricter gun legislation and consequences for people who violate gun laws in his appearance at the White House on Tuesday.The Austin-area resident was visibly choked up while sharing stories of the families affected by the mass shooting at Robb Elementary that left 19 fourth graders and two teachers dead and at least 17 others injured.There is a sense that perhaps there’s a viable path forward,” McConaughey said at a press briefing in the James S. Brady briefing room after he met with President Joe Biden. “Responsible parties in this debate seem to at least be committed to sitting down and having a real conversation about a new and improved path forward, a path that can bring us closer together and make us safer as a country, a path that can actually get something done this time.”saying he wanted to instead focus on “creating pathways for people to succeed in life.” The self-proclaimed responsible gun owner was noncommittal to a political party at the time, describing himself as “aggressively centrist.”We need responsible gun ownership. … We need background checks,” he said Tuesday. “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.”In Texas, 18 is the legal age to buy a rifle. The Uvalde shooter purchased two AR-platform rifles within days of turning 18 last month.What I’m interested in is keeping guns out of the hands of those who, by current law, are not supposed to have them,” Cornyn said Monday in a Senate floor speech. “People with mental health problems, people … who have criminal records.”Standing in the White House with a Texas-shaped pin on his black suit jacket, McConaughey said responses to the Uvalde shooting should be “a nonpartisan issue.”

Matthew McConaughey Meets Biden and Pleads for an End to Gun Violence

WASHINGTONThe actor Matthew McConaughey, a native son of Uvalde, Texas, took the lectern in the White House briefing room on Tuesday and spoke of learning, in his boyhood, “to revere the power and the capability” of a gun. He then told of the horror he felt at losing 19 school children in his hometown to a man with a rifle so high-powered that it disfigured many of their bodies beyond recognition.Fresh off a meeting with Mr. McConaughey echoed the president’s call for expanded background checks on gun buyers, new “red flag” laws and additional restrictions on the purchase of AR-15 rifles like the one used to kill 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde last month. He cast himself as a voice for responsible gun owners and described, in graphic detail, the horrors of gun violence.Children were left not only dead, but hollow,” Mr. McConaughey said, as he described meeting with the parents of slain children in Uvalde whose bodies had been “so mutilated that only DNA tests” or green Converse sneakers could be used to identify them.Yes, counselors are going to be needed in Uvalde for a long time,” he said.The shooting is on record and one recorded in the United States so far this year. Just 10 days before the Uvalde shooting, a gunman at a Buffalo grocery sto

Mr. McConaughey’s appearance at the White House came as a bipartisan group of senators tries to negotiate new legislation to respond to gun violence. Senators involved in the talks expressed muted optimism that they could produce some sort of legislation that might clear the evenly divided chamber, though it was certain to fall short of some measures, like a ban on assault weapons, that Mr. Biden has called for.Mr. McConaughey, who also met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, said that he and his wife, Camilla, had gone to Uvalde the day after the shooting.You could feel the shock in the town,” he said. “You could feel the pain, the denial, disillusion, anger, blame, sadness. Loss of lives, dreams halting.”He choked up as he spoke of meeting the parents of who dreamed of going to art school in Paris, and how Alithia’s father, Ryan, had recently secured a higher-paying job, promising it meant that he would spoil her by taking her to Sea World.Actor Matthew McConaughey gives impassioned speech for gun reform in White House briefingIn an emotional speech at the White House on Tuesday, actor Matthew McConaughey called for new gun regulations in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas, and urged federal lawmakers to honor their moral obligations instead of party affiliations.Through misty eyes, McConaughey recalled his recent travel to Uvalde, where he and his wife met with victims’ families, local law enforcement and morticians who were tasked with preparing some of the bodies of the school-aged children who were shot to death on May 24.He also recounted his younger years in Uvalde, where he said he learned what it means to be a responsible gun owner and to revere the Second Amendment.We heard from so many people: Families of the deceased, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, Texas Rangers, hunters, border patrol and responsible gun owners who won’t give up their Second Amendment rights,” he said. “They all said, ‘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 gunsMcConaughey specifically called on U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation to raise the minimum age gun owners can purchase an assault rifle to 21 from 18, bulk up background checks and institute red flag provisions.His White House appearance came a day after the actor, known for films like “The Wedding Planner” and his Oscar-winning role in “Dallas Buyers Club,” wrote titled “It’s Time to Act on Gun Responsibility.In that op-ed, the actor pressed Congress to appreciate the difference between gun “control” and “responsibility” in the wake of the gruesome mass shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children and two teachers dead.I believe that responsible, law-abiding Americans have a Second Amendment right, enshrined by our founders, to bear arms. I also believe we have a cultural obligation to take steps toward slowing down the senseless killing of our children,” he wrote.There is no constitutional barrier to gun responsibility,” McConaughey continued. “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.pass gun control measures in the wake of two high-profile mass shootings last month: The massacre in Uvalde and a racist attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, that left 10 slain.President Joe Biden met with Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut leading bipartisan gun control talks, earlier Tuesday to discuss the latest debate on Capitol Hill.Murphy, perhaps the chamber’s biggest advocate for tighter gun laws, is working with Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn on efforts to improve school security, strengthen background checks and introduce red flag laws that would allow families to petition courts to seize guns from a person suspected of posing a public health threat Matthew McConaughey tells the story of those killed in Uvalde in emotional plea for action on gun

Actor Matthew McConaughey delivered impassioned and at-times emotional remarks at the White House press briefing on Tuesday, telling the stories of those who died in the and urging more action on gun control.McConaughey, a Uvalde native, said he and his wife, Camila Alves, spent most of the past week with the families of those who were killed in his hometown. He showed pictures of their artwork and brought to the briefing room the green Converse shoes that one girl wore every day that were used to identify her body after the shooting. She had drawn a heart on one of the shoes.He said he needed to tell their stories to show how action needed to be taken to honor the lives of the 19 children and two teachers killed aYou know what every one of these parents wanted, what they asked us for? What every parent separately expressed in their own way to Camila and me? That they want their children’s dreams to live on. That they want their children’s dreams to continue, to accomplish something after they are gone. They want to make their loss of life matter,” McConaughey saidHe said there was now a “window of opportunity” to enact meaningful gun legislation reform and called for universal background checks, raising the minimum age for purchasing an AR-15 to 21, a waiting period for purchasing AR-15s and the implementation of red flag laws.”These are reasonable, practical, tactical regulations to our nation, states, communities, schools and homes. Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals. These regulations are not a step back — they’re a step forward for a civil society and, and the Second Amendment,” McConaughey said in a roughly 20-minute speech from the podium.

Uvalde Native Matthew McConaughey Appears At White House Briefing To Urge Gun Reform Action – Watch The Video

fought back tears as he spoke to reporters at the  on Tuesday about meeting the families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shootings i TX, his hometown.The actor’s appearance in the White House briefing room, after he and his wife Camilla met with President was in many ways extraordinary, as he spoke movingly in tribute to the victims and their lives cut short, sharing deeply personal stories. when a gunman opened fire on their classroom.The actor earlier this week published an op ed in the Austin American Statesman in which he called for a series of gun reform proposals, including background checks for all gun purchases, a minimum 21-year-old requirement for buying assault rifles, a waiting period for purchase and for nationwide “red flag” laws.

We got a chance for, right now, to reach for and grasp a higher ground, above our political affiliations,” McConaughey said. “A chance to make a choice that does more than protect your party. A chance to make a choice that protects our country now and for the next generation.”All three major cable news networks carried McConaughey’s remarks live, as he tried to vividly describe the personalities and aspirations of the victims. At one point, he spoke of Maite Rodriguez, 9, noting that she aspired to be a marine biologist who already had been in contract with Texas A&M at Corpus Christi, hoping to attend one day.Maite wore green high top Converse with a heart she had hand drawn on the right toe, because they represented her love of nature,” he said. His wife then held up the shoes.She wore these every day,” he said. “Green Converse, with a heart on the right toe. These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her at the shooting. How about that.”McConaughey’s message was that, despite perceptions that gun reform has divided the country, there actually is agreement on a set of reasonable measures. He told reporters, “Responsible gun owners are fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked by deranged individuals. These regulations are not a step back, they are step forward for a civil society and the Second Amendment.

I promise you, America, you and me, we are not as divided as we are being told we are,” he said in his 20-minute remarks.

As he finished his remarks, he said, “We start by making the loss of these lives … matter.” Reporters shouted questions at him, including one who asked, “Are you grandstanding sir?” But he did not answer and left the briefing room.McConaughey also has been meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.n his op ed, McConaughey wrote, “The need for mental health care, school safety, the prevalence of sensationalized media coverage, and the decaying state of American values are all long-term societal factors that must be addressed, but right now, we don’t have the luxury of time,” McConaughey wrote. “We need to focus on corrections and countermeasures that can also and immediately reduce the gun violence tragedies that have become too common in our country.”A bipartisan group of senators is working on a package of proposals, while the House is planning to vote on a series of gun reform measures this week. But there is still considerable doubt as to whether any significant gun measures will pass, given the 60-vote threshold needed to advance legislation in the Senate. That is what doomed legislation back in 2013, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.McConaughey is the latest celebrity to visit the White House, as the administration draws on high-profile figures to pierce through the partisan media noise. Last week, BTS visited with Biden and appeared in a White House the subject of which was stemming Asian-American hate crimes, and the

Matthew McConaughey, nacido en Uvalde, dio un emotivo discurso en la Casa Blanca en homenaje a las víctimas del tiroteo

Él está aquí hoy para usar su plataforma para pedir a los líderes (del Congreso) que tomen medidas bipartidistas para poner fin a los asesinatos sin sentido y aprobar medidas razonables de responsabilidad por las armas que sabemos que salvarán vidas”, dijo Jean-Pierre sobre la visita de McConaughey.

McConaughey pidió a los estadounidenses una mayor “responsabilidad a la hora de poseer armas” en un artículo de opinión publicado el lunes en el periódico Austin American-Statesman, en un momento en el que Estados Unidos vive una “epidemia de tiroteos”.

“Tenemos la obligación cultural de tomar medidas para frenar la matanza sin sentido de nuestros hijos. El debate sobre el control de armas no ha dejado más que un statu quo. Es hora de que hablemos sobre la responsabilidad de las armas”, escribió.

No obstante, el que fue uno de los protagonistas de la serie True Detective señaló que apoya a que los estadounidenses “responsables y respetuosos” puedan portar armas, como lo indica la Segunda Enmienda de la Constitución

Desde la Casa Blanca, el actor Matthew McConaughey pide “responsabilidad con las armasAFP)El actor Matthew McConaughey hizo un fuerte llamado el martes en la Casa Blanca a la “responsabilidad con las armas” tras la masacre en una escuela primaria en su ciudad natal de Uvalde, Texas.Estamos en una ventana de oportunidad en este momento en la que no habíamos estado antes, una ventana en la que parece que un cambio real, un cambio real puede suceder”, dijo McConaughey, de 52 años, a los periodistas.McConaughey, quien visitó Uvalde y se reunió con las familias de las víctimas después de que 19 niños y dos maestras fueran asesinados a tiros el 24 de mayo, habló de manera emotiva sobre algunos de los escolares que murieron.Mostró un dibujo colorido hecho por Alithia Ramírez, una niña de 10 años que quería asistir a la escuela de arte en París algún día.McConaughey también señaló un par de zapatillas Converse verdes que sostenía su esposa, la modelo brasileña Camila Alves, y que pertenecían a otra de las víctimas, Maite Rodríguez.Unas Converse verdes con un corazón en el dedo del pie derecho”, dijo McConaughey. “Son las mismas Converse verdes en sus pies que resultaron ser la única evidencia clara que podría identificarla después del tiroteo”.Qué me dicen de eso?”, se preguntó, golpeando el atril de la sala de prensa de la Casa Blanca.McConaughey, quien se reunió con el presidente Joe Biden y miembros del Congreso antes de hablar con los periodistas acreditados en la Casa Blanca, dijo que las familias de las víctimas le dijeron que querían que “su pérdida importara”.Quieren que los sueños de sus hijos sigan vivos”, afirmó.Consolamos a mucha gente”, contó el actor. “¿Y saben lo que decían todos? ‘Queremos escuelas seguras y fuera de peligro y queremos leyes sobre armas que no faciliten que los malos obtengan estas malditas armas

Camila Alves McConaughey se sentó con los zapatos Converse verdes de Maite en su regazo mientras su esposo hablaba. La niña de 10 años dibujó un corazón en los zapatos porque, dijo el actor, “representaba su amor por la naturaleza”.Se fue sin responder preguntas después de señalar soluciones que describió como de sentido común, muchas de las cuales enfrentan una feroz resistencia por parte de los senadores de su estado natal, Ted Cruz y John Cornyn, y otros republicanos.Necesitamos verificaciones de antecedentes. Necesitamos aumentar la edad mínima para comprar un rifle AR-15 a 21 años. Necesitamos un período de espera para esos rifles. Necesitamos leyes de bandera roja y consecuencias para quienes abusan de ellas”, dijo McConaughey.Estas son regulaciones razonables, prácticas y tácticas” que le darían sentido a las muertes en Uvalde, dijo.Tenemos que comenzar ahora mismo aprobando políticas que puedan evitar que tengamos tantos Columbines, Sandy Hooks, Parklands, Las Vegas, Buffaloes y Uvaldes”, dijo