Matthew McConaughey calls for gun control on Fox News: ‘We could be more responsible’

Actor Matthew McConaughey appeared on Special Report with Bret Baier, Tuesday, just hours after speaking at the White House about common sense gun control. Particularly when it comes to the age limit for AR-15-style assault rifle ownership, which was legally purchased by an 18-year-old and used to murder 19 children and two teachers in McConaughey’s birthplace of Uvalde, Texas. He also believes the age limit for AR-15-style guns should be 21, not 18.

“I'm not someone from the entertainment industry that decided to swing by for an open cause,” McConaughey said, at the top of the interview. “This landed on my -- I got the calling. It happened in the town I was born in, alright? So it got pretty personal for me.”

Days after the Uvalde shooting, a disgruntled patient purchased an AR-15-style rifle three hours before murdering two doctors, a patient and a receptionist in a Tulsa Hospital. And McConaughey believes there should be a mandatory waiting period for these types of weapons.

“We're talking about in a civil society to be able to purchase that kind of weapon, and then that afternoon do what you will with it?” McConaughey rhetorically asked. “We could be more responsible than that, yes, sir, I do.”

While McConaughey didn’t push for a complete ban of the notorious weapon, he does believe common sense gun legislation, which he detailed in an op-ed piece he wrote in the Austin American-Statesman, is something most responsible gun owners he talks to support.

“It's true that so many of the people that don't need a gun in their hands are committing crimes of passion,” he said. “And that sometimes a pause, hey, get your mind off it, let your interventions be intercepted by something else, over a period of time could stop quite a few of these kind of crimes.”

Video Transcript

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MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: I'm not some other-- someone from in the entertainment industry that decided to swing by for an open cause. This landed on my-- I got the calling. It happened in the town I was born in.

KYLIE MAR: Actor Matthew McConaughey appeared on "Special Report with Brett Baier" Tuesday, just hours after speaking at the White House about common-sense gun control, particularly when it comes to the age limit for AR-15 style assault rifle ownership, which was legally purchased by an 18-year-old and recently used to murder 19 children and two teachers in McConaughey's birthplace of Uvalde, Texas.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: We're talking about it here in the civil society. To be able to go purchase that kind of weapon, and then that afternoon, do what you will with it? I think we could be more responsible than that. Yes, sir, I do.

KYLIE MAR: Conservatives who pushed back on changing the age limit from 18 to 21 argue that since 18-year-olds can go into the military, they should be able to have guns as private citizens, but McConaughey pushed back against that defense.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: The argument would be, well, at 18, you can go in the military. Well, you go in the military with a intent and purpose, all right? And even going to the military, it's like over a week of training before they ever putting a live-- live round into that semiautomatic, all right?

KYLIE MAR: Days after the Uvalde shooting, a disgruntled patient purchased an AR-15 style rifle 3 hours before murdering two doctors, a patient, and a receptionist in a Tulsa hospital. And McConaughey believes there should be a mandatory waiting period for these types of weapons.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: It's true that so many of the people that don't need a gun in their hands are committing crimes of passion and that sometimes a pause, hey, get your mind off it, let your-- let your intentions be intercepted by something else over a period of time could stop quite a few of these kind of crimes.

KYLIE MAR: While McConaughey didn't push for a complete ban of the notorious weapon, he does believe common-sense gun legislation, which he detailed in an op-ed piece he wrote in the Austin American-Statesman, is something most responsible gun owners he talks to support.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY: I hear so many of them saying, yeah, pause after purchase, I like that idea. Hey, 18 to 21 for that AR-15 style rifle? Yeah.