- Matthew McConaughey said we should “be inclined not to let the bad guy catch him [a gun] before we have to catch him. “
- The actor became a staunch supporter of gun reform after the shooting at a school in his hometown of Uwalde, Texas.
- As the Republican Party seeks the “root of the problem”, he says weapons policies are needed to stop the mass shootings at the outset.
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Matthew McConaughey acknowledged that the Republican Party’s views on gun control “make sense”, but “we must be inclined not to allow the bad guy” to own the gun in the first place.
McConaughey has become an outspoken figure in gun reform after the deadly mass shooting at Rob Elementary School in his hometown of Uwalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in the riot.
The tragedy renewed calls from both sides of the political spectrum for action, with Democrats calling for tighter gun policies and Republicans focusing on mental illness, school safety and armed men themselves.
In an interview with Fox News presenter Brett Bayer on Tuesday, the actor said Republicans are looking for “the root of the problem” by focusing on issues such as mental health and restoring family values and school safety when it comes to mass shootings.
“All these things make sense,” he said. “This is the root of the problem – mentally ill people who commit crimes. We fix people, then we probably won’t have this conversation. But we will not fix people. It will be a lifelong job once we are here and after we leave. “
“I think there are some things we can do to keep weapons out of the hands of the bad guy, to make them harder to take,” the actor added. “If they have the weapon and we find out they are a bad person, then we have the right to take it from them. I think we also need to be inclined not to let the bad guy take it before we have to take it. Catch it.”
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On Monday, McConaughey wrote an article about the Austin American-Statesman, outlining gun control policies that he believes could “restore responsible gun ownership in our country,” including past checks, red flag laws, raising the age of purchase of a rifle from 18 to 21 and establishment of a national waiting period after purchases of automatic rifles.
“This is not a choice between weapons or without weapons,” he wrote. “It’s a responsible choice. It’s a sensible choice.”
Earlier Tuesday, McConaughey also met with President Joe Biden and gave a speech at a White House briefing, recalling a meeting with the families of victims of the Uwalde school shooting and urging lawmakers to tackle gun violence in schools.
“Can both sides rise? Can both sides see beyond the political problem and acknowledge that we have a problem with saving lives?” said McConaughey. “Right now we have a chance to reach and capture higher ground above our political biases.”
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