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Actor McConaughey calls for gun legislation at White House
June 7th, 8:54 PM EDT
Updated:

Matthew McConaughey, a native of Uvalde, Texas, talks about the mass shooting in Uvalde, as he joins White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, June 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AAMER MADHANI
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Academy Award–winning actor Matthew McConaughey offered an emotional call on Congress to "reach a higher ground" and pass gun control legislation.
In a roughly 22-minute speech at the White House on Tuesday, McConaughey, a Uvalde, Texas, native, offered a full-throated exhortation for a gridlocked Congress to pass gun reforms that can save lives while not infringing on Second Amendment rights.
McConaughey used his star power to make an argument for legislation in a fashion that the Biden administration has not been able to by offering a clear connection to the small Texas town and offering vivid detail of the sheer loss of the 19 children and two teachers gunned down in last month's mass shooting.