These are the same green Converse, on her feet, that turned out to be the only clear evidence that could identify her after the shooting.” Maite Rodriguez, one of the children who was killed at Uvalde, Texas, last month wore those shoes every day as a sign of her love for nature. Her story, and many others, formed the core of an impassioned speech by Oscar-winning actor Mathew McConaughey at the White House on Tuesday. His message was simple, and powerful: In the aftermath of one of the most gruesome school shootings in the US, there is no excuse to delay reasonable gun control legislation.
Uvalde is McConaughey’s hometown. And, like many Texans and others in the American South, he is a proud gun owner. His plea, emotional to be certain, was also eminently reasonable. The ideological commitment that many in the US have to the Second Amendment — which guarantees the right to bear arms — must not be allowed to override the fact that children and teachers are routinely killed by young people with mental health issues and access to military-grade weapons. Background checks, counselling, reasonable restrictions — those are the contours of the non-partisan gun control law that McConaughey proposed.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on June 10, 2022 under the title ‘Actor, truth-teller’.
