MATTHEW'S MISSION

TEXAS' MOST-FAMOUS SON EYES A POLITICAL CAREER AFTER PUBLIC PLEA FOR US GUN REFORM BRIDGES POLITICAL DIVIDES

- Karleigh Smith

Across America, Texans are among the staunchest defenders of their Second Amendment right to bear arms, with 37 per cent of the state’s mostly conservative residents owning guns.

But after 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde were massacred in cold blood by an 18year-old armed with an ArmaLite AR-15 – a military-grade assault weapon with the power to release 45 bullets per minute – that he obtained legally on his 18th birthday, it seems things could finally change. The tragedy propelled gun regulation back into national debate, with most Texas conservatives insisting that under a constitution written in 1787, their rights as gun owners cannot be infringed.

That was, until the Lone Star state’s favourite son Matthew McConaughey, who was born in Uvalde to a substitute teacher mum, turned the notion of “gun control” into“gun responsibility” in an emotional speech at the White House last week. The father of three, 52, held back tears as he told victims’ stories, smashing his fist on the lectern as he called for universal background checks, raising the minimum age for purchasing an AR-15 to 21, a waiting period for purchasing assault rifles and implementing “red flag” laws.