Matthew McConaughey speaks about Uvalde shooting, appeals for gun control at White House. Watch

“Many children were left not only dead, but hollow,” actor Matthew McConaughey said during the White House press briefing on Tuesday as he shared the stories of those children who died in the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this month. 

“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,” McConaughey said.

“I’m here today in the hopes of applying what energy, reason and passion that I have into trying to turn this moment into a reality. Because as I said, this moment is different.”

Also Read: Families of Uvalde, Buffalo victims scheduled for Congress testimony

The ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ actor, who was born and raised in Uvalde, was accompanied by his wife Camila Alves, who held a pair of green Converse that belonged to 10-year-old Maite Yuleana Rodriguez, who was among 19 children killed in the shooting. Her body was so badly mutilated that she could only be identified by her green Converse.

“Due to the exceptionally large exit wounds of an AR-15 rifle. Most of the bodies were so mutilated that only DNA tests or green Converse could identify them,” he said at the briefing. 

Also Read: Uvalde shooting victims launch action against gunmaker, threaten lawsuit

The Academy Award-winner appealed for gun control and said that he had spoken to many people in his hometown who told him they were “fed up with the Second Amendment being abused and hijacked.” 

“We need background checks. We need to raise the minimum age to purchase assault rifles to 21. We need red flag laws,” he said. 

Watch the press briefing here – 

On May 24, 2022, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos entered the Robb Elementary School campus and opened fire, killing nineteen students and two teachers. Earlier in the day, he had shot his grandmother at home, severely wounding her.