Uvalde-born McConaughey gives emotional plea on gun control

Academy Award–winning actor Matthew McConaughey took centre stage at the White House briefing today to call on Congress to reach a higher ground and pass gun control legislation in honour of the children and teachers killed in last month's shooting rampage at an elementary school in his home town of Uvalde, Texas.

In a highly personal 22-minute speech, McConaughey offered a full-throated exhortation for a gridlocked Congress to pass gun reforms that can save lives without 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, offering a clear connection to the small Texas town and offering vivid detail on the sheer loss of the 19 children and two teachers in the second worst mass school shooting in US history.

McConaughey acknowledged that gun legislation would not end mass shootings but suggested that steps can be taken to lessen the chances of such tragedies happening so frequently.

[Source: TVNZ]