Matthew McConaughey

After spending a week in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas, following the Robb Elementary School shooting, the actor eulogized several of the victims and shared ...

McConaughey showed pieces of artwork from and photos of some of the students and teachers killed at Robb Elementary, which McConaughey said is less than a mile from where his mother was a school teacher. “To make the loss of these lives matter,” Matthew McConaughey said as he began an impassioned 20-minute speech about gun reform during Tuesday’s White House press briefing. 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.

The Uvalde, Texas, native appeared in the White House briefing room and called for new gun control measures.

Mr. McConaughey asked his wife to hold up the green hightop Converse sneakers worn every day by 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez, who hoped to study one day to be a marine biologist, and who had drawn a heart on the right toe to symbolize her love of nature. He called on the news media to reduce its sensational coverage of mass shootings. 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. “You could feel the shock in the town,” he said. He cast himself as a voice for responsible gun owners and described, in graphic detail, the horrors of gun violence. 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.

Actor and gun owner describes 'window where real change can happen' as he reflects on his hometown of Uvalde.

He held up artwork from Alithia Ramirez, who dreamed of attending art school in Paris. And then there was Eliahna “Ellie” Garcia, who loved dancing and church and already knew how to drive tractors. McConaughey, who declined to take questions, spoke of his own connections to the town. He also noted that Uvalde was the place where he was taught about responsibilities that come with gun ownership. “We need to invest in mental healthcare. McConaughey, a gun owner himself, used his star power to make the case for turning the horror of the moment into concrete action. A window where it seems like real change can happen.”

The Oscar-winning actor is a native of Uvalde, where a school shooting last month took the lives of 19 children. Read more at straitstimes.com.

His comments, however, appeared to be intended for Republicans in Congress who have opposed gun legislation. McConaughey appeared to choke up several times while holding up photos of some of the child victims. “There is a sense that perhaps there’s a viable path forward. His comments, however, were expected to have little impact. “Uvalde is where I learned responsible gun ownership.” “While we honour and acknowledge the victims, we need to recognize that this time seems that something is different,” he said.

McConaughey, who was born in Uvalde, calls for 'responsible' gun ownership after mass shooting at town's primary school.

McConaughey, who declined to take questions, spoke of his own connections to the town. We need safer schools. We need to restrain sensationalised media coverage. Ellie was looking forward to reading a Bible verse at an upcoming church service when she was killed. He also noted that Uvalde was the place where he was taught about the responsibilities that come with gun ownership. “We need to invest in mental healthcare.

The 52-year-old actor pleaded for stricter gun control legislation following the school shooting in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas back in May when 19 children ...

McConaughey said he and his wife drove to Uvalde the day after the shooting and spent time with the families of some of the victims.

We need to restore our American values and we need responsible gun ownership," McConaughey said. McConaughey, who declined to take questions, spoke of his own connections to the town. He also noted that Uvalde was the place where he was taught about responsibilities that come with gun ownership. Ellie was looking forward to reading a Bible verse at an upcoming church service when she was killed. We need safer schools. Garnell Whitfield Jr. asked members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Matthew McConaughey delivered a passionate 20-minute speech at the podium of the White House press briefing room discussing the Texas mass shooting.

Again, we got to look in the mirror, lead with humility, and acknowledge the values that are inherent to but also above politics. The money she had made two summers ago paid to -- paid to paint the front of the house. Camila and I, we -- we sat with about 20 of their family members in the living room, along with their four kids. We also met Ana and Dani- -- Danilo, the mom and the stepdad of nine-year-old Maite Rodriguez. And Maite wanted to be a marine biologist. They -- they shared all these stories about Irma and Joe -- served the community and would host all these parties, and how Irma and Joe were planning on getting a food truck together when they soon retired. The week prior to her passing, she had been preparing to read a verse from the Bible for the next Wednesday night's church service. I need to live next to the ocean because I want to be a marine biologist. These are the same green Converse on her feet that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting. Now, Alithia -- her dream was to go to art school in Paris and one day share her art with the world. Camila and I came here to share my stories from my hometown of Uvalde. I came here to take meetings with elected officials on both sides of the aisle. Her mother said, of this drawing -- she said, “You know, we never really talked to her about heaven before, but somehow she knew.” We are in a window of opportunity right now that we have not been in before, a window where it seems like real change -- real change can happen.

The actor from Uvalde has won an Oscar and considered running for governor of Texas.

He left the desert with a book that fits his approach to life. “It’s a humbling and inspiring path to ponder,” he said. McConaughey never became such a Hollywood fixture that he left Texas behind for good. To his credit, he never tried to spin the event. He describes in the book an offer for an unnamed rom-com that would’ve paid $14 million. Most of them had no idea he was a film star. We like to think of Matthew McConaughey as a great superstar from the beginning. He was dating a bartender working at the Hyatt in Austin. She got to know Don Phillips, a notable casting director who was in town working on a new film by Houston native Richard Linklater, whose “Slacker” was an independent film success. At 6’2” and 220 lbs., the University of Houston draftee never could play end in the 21st century. He made him in a way he didn’t other actors. “Don saw something in him,” said Melissa Maerz, author of the book “Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater’s ‘Dazed and Confused.’” He got Matthew an agent, taught him behind-the-scenes things about the industry. Interest in a Texas gubernatorial run ended last November. But McConaughey -- a Texas native and a Texas resident -- hasn't ruled out a future run for public office.

Matthew McConaughey pleading for lawmakers to reform gun laws after the Uvalde school shooting hit home in a way that no major politician has been able to ...

Like McConaughey, who said he hugged his children “a bit tighter and longer than the night before” after learning of the massacre in his hometown, I too felt the need to embrace my children a bit longer than I did the day before. As I looked around at their school, it was so clear to me that Robb Elementary, where 19 children and two teachers were killed, could have been as much there as it could have been anywhere. With his familiar Texas drawl and passionate appeal to elected officials to rise above the politics, McConaughey, who flirted with running for governor of Texas until late last year, gave voice to what the majority of Americans believe: that it’s possible to protect the Second Amendment while promoting more responsible gun laws. At times, his speech was hard to listen to, particularly as he profiled the hopes and dreams of some of the children lost in the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting — aspirations that will now never be realized. “Regulations are not a step back; they’re a step forward for a civil society and — and the Second Amendment.” As MSNBC’s Katy Tur noted, CNN, MSNBC and Fox News all stayed with McConaughey’s speech in its entirety — a reflection of its gripping nature.