Actor Matthew McConaughey has traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to push lawmakers toward gun reforms following a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas — McConaughey’s hometown.
The actor met with Senate Judiciary chairman Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, on Monday, then met with Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is the top Republican on the panel, on Tuesday.
“We, like so many others, agree that gun safety reform is needed,” Durbin tweeted following his meeting. “I’ll keep working to make that happen.”
Had the chance to meet Uvalde native @McConaughey in DC today to discuss the horrific mass shooting at Robb Elementary as well as the larger problem of gun violence in America. We, like so many others, agree that gun safety reform is needed—I'll keep working to make that happen. pic.twitter.com/ckCAItzwrR
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) June 6, 2022
Mtg w Matthew McConaughey & Camila Alves about gun responsibility + school safety incl my bipartisan EAGLES Act pic.twitter.com/ViVpmzphtU
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 7, 2022
Grassley noted that their conversation focused on “gun responsibility” and “school safety.” He emphasized that he has renewed his push for the “bipartisan EAGLES Act,” which would expand the Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center to focus on school violence. The proposal was first introduced in 2021 after the Parkland school shooting in 2018.
“There is a difference between control and responsibility,” McConaughey wrote in a Monday op-ed for the Austin-American Statesman. “The first is a mandate that can infringe on our right; the second is a duty that will preserve it. There is no constitutional barrier to gun responsibility. 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.”
Uvalde, Texas, USA. pic.twitter.com/0iULRGtREm
— Matthew McConaughey (@McConaughey) May 25, 2022
In his op-ed, McConaughey laid out a plan that includes a nationwide “red flag” law, expanding background checks to every gun purchase, raising the age for Americans to buy assault rifles from 18 to 21, and mandating a waiting period for assault rifles.
“I want to be clear,” he wrote. “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,” the actor continued. “It’s the responsible choice. It’s the reasonable choice. 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. “