Matthew McConaughey spoke at the White House on Tuesday to call for "gun responsibility" after the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting 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," the 52-year-old McConaughey told reporters.
He died of what his family described "a broken heart" two days after Irma Garcia, his wife of 24 years, was shot and killed in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
A statement from the "Dallas Buyers Club" star on his social media platforms said, "Once again we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us." Every American, he added, should pose this question: "What is it that we truly value? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state and neighborhood tomorrow?"