U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “Matthew McConaughey calls for action after deadly elementary school shooting in his Texas hometown,” Fox News reports. “McConaughey was born in Uvalde, Texas, where his mother was a teacher at a school a mile away from Robb Elementary School.”
He’s an actor, right? A guy who repeats words off a script and emotes under direction. He’s not a character he plays no matter how heroic or wise he’s pretending to be. Who cares what he thinks?
The answer, like it or not, is “millions” and the impact of his influence is amplified by repeated speculation that the popular star was considering throwing the hat in the ring and entering Texas gubernatorial politics.
“If he were to take the plunge and run for governor, the poll found, 45% of Texas registered voters would vote for McConaughey, 33% would vote for [incumbent Gov. Greg] Abbott and 22% would vote for someone else,” The Dallas Morning News reported last year.
That means Texas citizens had better pay attention to what he believes, because he could very well exploit his “star power” and his elite, moneyed connections to impose them on the state, and through political influence, on the rest of the country. That McConaughey says he is not currently considering pursuing those plans doesn’t negate that he could change his mind and that even without an official position such popular numbers still make him a force to be reckoned with.
So, what does he believe about the school murders, and specifically, what measures society should consider for preventing future atrocities? In his attempt to continue appearing “aggressively centric,” McConaughey appeals to feelings and avoids specifics that leave an opening for counter-arguments – showing considered political instincts.
“’What is it that we truly value?” McConaughey asks on Twitter. “What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?”
“This is an epidemic we can control, and whichever side of the aisle we may stand on, we all know we can do better,” he claims. “Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured.”
OK, what “action” would ensure that? What does he mean by “small sacrifices,” especially in light of the kneejerk Democrat and ginned-up media reaction to blame guns and gun owners? And why does he resort to the manipulative “public health” model term “epidemic” if not to stir up emotions not borne out by data?
McConaughey’s statement has to be considered in context with what he’s already advocated:
“McConaughey has a history of being more outspoken on gun violence than other politically charged issues. In 2018, he spoke at the March for Our Lives rally in Austin, calling for banning assault weapons for civilians, restricting high-capacity magazines and strengthening background checks.”
Surrendering the means to preserve freedom from tyranny is hardly a “small sacrifice,” and couching it in those terms feeds another lying gun-grabber meme: Gun owners who refuse to “compromise” are “selfish.”
It’s particularly dangerous when citizen disarmament goals are masked under the guise of “reasonableness.” That’s why the antis use terms like “commonsense gun safety” and other manipulations to hide what they’re after. It’s on those of us who recognize what they’re doing to call them on it and to see what we can do to act as counter influences for those who may not recognize that they’re being played.
It’s easier when Hollywood goes full raving lunatic, like serial aborter Whoopi Goldberg calling on her fans to “SWAT” gun owners if they “think” their “arsenal” is “too big.”
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
To answer McConaughey’s question: “What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?”
The answer is “enforce our immigration laws”
TENRING!!!!
Ban “gun free” zones. Fire Uvalde PD, use the cash to arm & train teachers, staff and a sheriff’s posse with Angeli Gomez in charge.
Very astute! Welcome to the site!
Red – glad I’m not the only one that caught that comment. It is ALWAYS law abiding gun owners who the left ‘expect’ to give up something. The ‘do something’ crowd NEVER come up with any viable solutions except to attempt to further restrict/infringe us. I’ll ask Matt exactly what I would have to ‘sacrifice’ to do even the least bit to prevent another atrocity. Hmm, maybe he should take a trip to Nigeria and ‘do something’ there. After all they just had a mass shooting there – upwards of SEVENTY dead and at a church no less. Sort of… Read more »
How many parts has he turned down due to the movie using guns and violence? I dare say none. So it OK to promote violence on the silver screen as long as it’s putting money in your pocket. Same goes for the a$$hole who shot one of the production company personal while making a movie.
This is why I will not watch a Liam Neilson movie.
Ken – he ain’t the only two faced ‘actor’ out there. I guess It is a good thing I haven’t been to a moving picture in over fifteen years.
I’ll admit that I do go to gun shows on occasion – they are cheaper (even the snacks!), you tend to associate with a better class of folks and you aren’t supporting holly weird.
Well alright, alright, alright Matthew McConaughey would rather twist one up, and drive his sponsored Lincoln’s around and preach to the choir, about his do as I say, not as I do beliefs. he is full of it when it comes to his gun control narrative. He is nothing but high on weed and his own self indulging fame. If McConaughey were to run for political gain, then he would be nothing but a puppet just like Let’s Go Brandon. I would think that at this point our nation would be tired of celebrities in politics. The only good one… Read more »
Just another self important, know nothing actor. Who cares what these addled actors think about anything? Matthew should go find a nice script where he can pretend to know something about anything.
And take Alec Baldwin with him.
Hire Baldwin as the armourer on the set.
Awesome
He IS correct: the real issue IS guns. The aspect of the problem thoughhas escaped him. The problem is the guns are always in the wrong hands as these incidents begin and unfold. The problem is the PERP is always armed, and NO ONE ELSE is. ARM the adult employees, those who wish to and don’t force anyone to do so) who are at the schools every day. Provide them with training relevant to that particular environment, then let them carry their own self-defence weapon, the same one they carry everywhere else BUT the school where they work. Then next… Read more »
“Provide them with training relevant to that particular environment, then let them carry their own self-defence weapon, the same one they carry everywhere else BUT the school where they work.
Then next time some perp sashays on intosome school to lather rinse and repeat, SOME armed, skilled, dedicated, determined individual will stand and declare NOT HERE BOOM BOOM BOOM”
So, your solution is to train and arm a, “whispy little teacher” to do what 100 HEAVILY ARMED COPS couldn’t do?
Like I would believe anything the Dallas Morning News printed!
Its value is for lining the bottom of my birdcage!
why to you so despise the birds you keep in that cage?
While likely smarter than many democrat voters, Jadis (our Amazon Parrot) does not read. I think she pays considerably less attention to the paper at bottom of her cage than I do. I have to look and check whether it’s time for a change – and sometimes do the sudocu or ken-ken before putting it to better use.
Seems people object to me buying the cheapest paper I can find, in order to use it to collect bird droppings. Anyone care to explain? If I’m doing something objectionable, would like to know what it is. Won’t necessarily change, but who knows.
Hipocrits are always blind to their hipocrisy.
When Principles are paper thin you can see right through someone. This is one such case.
Shallow understanding? Every politician and bureaucrat wears that badge.
Yes! I saw Darrel Issa, the Congressman from Ca, making a defense of the Second Amendment, yesterday, on FBN. I almost fainted.
Did he screw it up?
Issa does not know what a Right is; he misunderstands the Second Amendment; and he thinks that machine guns can not be sold in the US. I could not believe how little he knew.
Not surprised. Issa’s a Silicon Valley guy, the kind of “R” who helped flood Cali with so much “cheap labor” immigration it’s becoming Calizuela & few Rs can now survive. That “cheap labor” cost him his own seat a few years ago, but I think he got lucky on a redistricting gerrymander job, so he got back in.
He was pitiful … just pitiful.
6.5 Swedeish. Because it is from the “old country”. When I was a kid many argued 30 06 vs. .270, but the old men in my neck of the woods always talked about the 6.5 “Svvvedeish” in glowing terms because it was from the old country. Ha
That was the second cartridge that I learned to reload.
Not to bust in where I wasn’t invited, my favorite deer caliber in timber was the 30-30. Out in the open it was 7mm Rem. Mag. You could just reach out and touch them, easy. I first reloaded 30-06 and then 7mm. I took my last big game hunt in’97. Except where I backed up my Son in Alaska on a moose hunt with a Win. Defender in 12 gauge. That was 3 days before 9/11.
Bust in? No. I just love to hear about peoples’ favorite firearms and cartridges. I’m glad that Ope brought it up!
I have a CZ in 6.5 Swed; with a Bavarinian style stock; and a Leupold scope. So it is Czech made, German styled; Norse cartridge’d; with an American scope, and a few honest scratches.
He (Issa) probably gets his “facts” from NPR?
McCONaughey is an actor kinda like Jussie Smolet folks, wake up to the fools gold they try to sell. I have a feeling alot of gullible women will fall for his stories. The truth is only you can immediatly defend your own life.
Hollywood nearsighted Bay this actor should ask harder questions or look for answers in the supreme court’s ruling of 2005. He should all so be educated that there is no such thing as gun violence for that matter so should the author of this article.
Violence is a animal & Human trait inadament objects do not commit violence. There is also no such things as gun rights or hammer rights or chevy rights. Evil criminals and the mentally democrats seem to be using all 3 to there advantage,
There are however, “Arms Rights” as in the title of the article.
He only understand what he’s told to say he is nothing more than a actor no better than you or I he just has a platform to speak for his party that we do not. The media would not give you or I on second of air time.
Just enforce the 20,000 laws already on the books…no more laws to invent the actor is doing what he does best read from a script…he was running for governor of TX until he decided not to.
McConaughey’s problem statement isn’t all wrong. We have not been doing well. We as a society have failed to protect children sufficiently. We all know the dangers of rampage murder and the infamy mass global media and internet fame have created a popular soft target, yet we (society, education departments, police, etc.) fail to adequately protect them. Too “expensive” to put a cop at every school they say. Yet “teachers aren’t paid enough “? Yet teachers are unwilling to pull gaurd duty? For the children? Perhaps teachers are willing but administrators tie their hands? So budgets/tax-payers and teachers/admins are more… Read more »
I’m thinking that McConaughey is an actor with a shallow understanding of what a Right is and looks to a desired end result rather than applying the law to the facts and then reading the result. I could be wrong.
“Actor has a shallow understanding………” One would think folks would have learned by now that playing a doctor on TV does not make one a doctor. Nor does playing a cop or a Marine or a President on TV endow one with those very particular talents and abilities. Had folks in California understood that they would not have been burdened with the fool Schwartznegger as a present Republican, pretend conservative and pretend governor. Those who live their lives in the world of make believe need to leave the heavy lifting and heavy thinking of the real world to the people… Read more »
HEY? I saw that Biden guy on TV playing a President on a mock stage! Perhaps Hollywood transformed the Whitehouse into a sound stage while we slept and filled it witha bunch of look alike actors and puppets?
Matthews “speech” might have been more powerful had he been rattling along during his run for Texas Governor rather than wait until actor the fact.
As far as, “To answer McConaughey’s question: “What small sacrifices ca individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?”
We have been doing it all along. A well armed citizenry, many trained and experienced military veterans and police.
I saw him yesterday speaking at the White House. I was actually impressed with his speech. He had a lot of good points there. I am sure many of us can find faults with some of it, but it sort of had that feeling that he was sincere and what all can be bad about that? We need to unite this country, not bring it down with partisan BS…..
I’m thinking that we must be careful. Joe Biden made a career of appearing sincere.
I agree.
I agree also. In the early days Joe was a total racist, and he was for a strong police force. Now that Joe is on his last legs as a thinking and perhaps even somewhat rational human being, we have all been duped by the Socialists into believing Biden actually won the last election.
I think that neither of us have been duped!!! I think many politicians know that the election was stolen and are shutting up about it.
Much can go wrong with an apparently sincere man uniting people. Depends on how. Which policies win.
He sounds sincere & he has political ambitions. His ‘compromise’ solution, the ‘small sacrifice’, will be made by our side. Gun grabbers will not be sacrificing. There won’t be real solutions like arming teachers.
Bottom line: “In 2018, he called for banning assault weapons for civilians, restricting high-capacity magazines and strengthening background checks.”
He’s guided by Hollywood, big UN-WHO fan. Misguided sincerity can be very destructive. I don’t want to be ‘united’ under those policies the way The Borg unites on Star Trek
You probably found his last movie character believable also. Don’t be a duped Useful Idiot. You do realize he is a highly skilled, highly paid, make believe embellisher, right???? He has a proven “anti-gun for thee, not me” history…..ala ban ARs, standard capacity magazines, raise buying age, universal background checks, many anti-guns positions, personal security resources…… Dems are paying a TV exec to stage the Jan 6 “Mini-Series” on 6/9/22 PM, so what makes one think they didn’t pay him to convincingly deliver these script lines????? Highly liked celebrity/skilled actor/from Uvalde/Mom Uvalde teacher……what better make-believer to deliver the Devil’s message… Read more »
So you judged his entire presentation by what he didn’t say? I liked what he said about Red Flag Laws. We already have them in a whole lot of states, and what he said about should a red flag law be called to someone’s attention and be not true, then That person making the claim should be prosecuted under the law. I agree with WB and Russ; ie, we must be careful, as always, and see if anything comes to fruition. As far as being a duped useful idiot? I will let that go. Do you know what his last… Read more »
I didn’t hear it. What did he say about red flag laws? Every 2A rights group opposes them. Only NSSF is neutral, but they also refer to ATF as “our federal partners”.
He said we needed red flag laws, which of course I don’t agree with. He then went on to say that if someone were to abuse the red flags, he thought that they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, whatever that means. I can get on board with that, just the same as I am on board for prosecuting all criminal cases where a gun, knife, baseball bat, etc. was even presented in the commission of said, as a capital crime deserving a minimum of 20 years in the slammer. Gone are the days when healthy… Read more »
Roger that, thanks. How to build real protection into red flag? I’d want to see serious habeas corpus rights, and provision for private civil & even private criminal prosecution: I figure most prosecutors will ignore abuses & pretend they never happened. Also recourse to fair trial by jury even for alleged insanity, so the Bill of Rights can’t be circumvented by Soviet style ‘adjudication’. Sov courts would declare dissidents ‘insane’ & off you go!
I doubt we get real protections the way they’re rushing it. Another indication of intent: Nonviolent 1/6 ‘insurrectionists’ (political poisoners) still in solitary, no bail, abused.
Apparently I saw only the choice little nuggets that the Five wanted me to hear. I did not take into context what he has said in previous years. I expect that all of Fox will be on the other side of it soon. If the Biden admin. asked him to do it for the ‘country’, rather than him making it for the perceived good, I will withdraw my positive thoughts about what he said.
You are a good man. “Red flag” laws allow the state to use its power against an individual before he is convicted or charged with a crime. Scary.
Yep. The Murdochs are yuge gun grabbers. Rupert partners with Bloomberg in anti-gun campaigns (and “cheap labor” campaigns too).