Matthew McConaughey Doubles Down On Calls For Gun Responsibility

Actor Matthew McConaughey is continuing to push for gun control legislation.

On Friday afternoon, he posted a black-and-white video showing him meeting with President Joe Biden and other Congress members, including Lindsey Graham, Joe Manchin, Corey Booker, Kyrsten Sinema, Kevin McCarthy, Jerry Nadler, and Nancy Pelosi, as per Deadline.

It looks like most of the video was taken at his White House press briefing last week when the Uvalde native gave an emotional speech and showed items from the child victims of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults.

At the beginning of the video, a title card reads, “This is and was about gun responsibility.”

“This is about mental health, safer schools AND keeping guns out of the IRresponsible hands that, by rule of law, still have access to them today,” the text goes on to say. “The solution must come from both sides.”

“For ourselves, for our children, Republicans, Democrats, and our fellow Americans… It’s time to be responsible,” the message concludes.

The “Dallas Buyers Club” actor had previously written an op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman, where he called not for gun control, but gun responsibility.

The “Interstellar” actor said that he believes all gun purchases should require a background check. He added that eighty-eight percent of Americans support this, “including a lot of responsible gun-owning Texans.”

The “Greenlights” author also proposed raising the age of purchasing an assault rifle to 21 years old. “I’m not talking about 12-gauge shotguns or lever-action hunting rifles,” he explained. “I’m talking about the weapon of choice for mass murderers, AR-15s.”

The shooter in the Uvalde, Texas massacre purchased two AR-15s for his 18th birthday, only days before the crime. “He obeyed the law,” Matthew McConaughey pointed out. “Had the law been different, perhaps I wouldn’t be writing this today.”

The “Tropic Thunder” actor also proposed Red Flag Laws, which “empower loved ones or law enforcement to petition courts to temporarily prevent individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others from purchasing or accessing firearms.”

McConaughey also proposed instituting a national waiting period for assault rifles. “Individuals often purchase weapons in a fit of rage, harming themselves or others. Studies show that mandatory waiting periods reduced homicides by 17 percent,” he explained.

He added, “Gun suicides account for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. A waiting period to purchase an assault rifle is an acceptable sacrifice for responsible gun owners when it can prevent a mass shooting crime of passion or suicide.”

He also called safe storage proposals and school safety measures “beneficial” but said they are “not government-only solutions.”

“We need to make the lost lives matter,” he went on. “Our leaders must make bipartisan compromises on a few reasonable measures to restore responsible gun ownership in our country.”

During the last part of his op-ed, McConaughey seemed to become emotional as he wrote, “I want to be clear. 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.”

“This is not a choice between guns or no guns. It’s the responsible choice. It’s the reasonable choice,” he continued. “It’s a quintessentially American choice: Where I have the right to be me, you have the freedom to be you, and we have the responsibility to be US.”

He admitted that “both sides are going to have to answer the call and reach for the higher ground of our collective responsibility.”

“Business as usual isn’t working,” he added. “The heinous bloodshed of innocent people cannot become bearable. If we continue to just stand by, we’re living a lie. With every right there comes a duty.”

“For ourselves, our children, and our fellow Americans—we have a duty to be responsible gun owners. Please do yours and protect the Second Amendment through gun responsibility,” he concluded. “It’s time for real leaders to step up and do what’s right, so we can each and all just keep livin’.”