Matthew McConaughey Addresses School Shooting In His Hometown

America is in mourning today after yesterday’s mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that killed at least nineteen children and two teachers.

Now, the Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey, who was born in Uvalde, has broken his silence to address this tragedy.

McConaughey Addresses Shooting

“Once again we have tragically proven that we are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us,” McConaughey began, according to Fox News. 

McConaughey then called on every American to ask themselves, “What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state and neighborhood tomorrow?”

Not stopping there, McConaughey said that it’s crucial that Americans never accept mass shootings as being the status quo. 

“As Americans, Texans, mother and fathers, it’s time we re-evaluate, and renegotiate our wants from our needs,” the Oscar-winning star continued. “We have to rearrange our values and find a common ground above this devastating American reality that has tragically become our children’s issue.”

Related: Matthew McConaughey Takes Hollywood To Task On Gun Rights

‘Epidemic We Can Control’

McConaughey described this as an “epidemic we can control,” adding that regardless of where anyone falls politically, “we all know we can do better.”

“Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured,” he stated, concluding by saying that parents who “dropped off their loved ones today not knowing it was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming.” 

McConaughey was born back in 1969 in Uvalde, where his mother worked as a kindergarten teacher less than a mile from Robb Elementary School. He’s previously said that while he is a supporter of the Second Amendment, he also wants common sense gun laws that include a ban on assault-style weapons and stricter background checks for purchasing firearms.

Related: Matthew McConaughey’s Wife Camila Shares Why She Loves Raising Their Family In Texas

Texas Mass Shooting

Daily Mail reported that the gunman has been identified as 18 year-old Salvador Ramos. He had been living with his 66 year-old grandmother, who was the first victim of his rampage but is believed to still be alive after being “critically shot.”

Ramos then drove to Robb Elementary School, where he killed 19 fourth grade students and their two teachers. The rampage came to an end when a hero Border Patrol agent ran into the school without backup and began exchanging fire with Ramos, finally killing him. The agent was reportedly injured as well, but he was still able to walk himself out of the school. 

This is the second deadliest school shooting on record in the United States, after the 2012 shooting in Sandy Hook that saw 26 lose their lives. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families during this unspeakably tragic time.