Matthew McConaughey Knocks Down Common Talking Point Against Raising Age Requirement to Buy AR-15s

Matthew McConaughey joined Bret Baier on Tuesday’s Special Report, just hours after delivering remarks at the White House press briefing.

The actor was born in Uvalde, Texas, where two weeks ago an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two teachers. That came less than two weeks before another 18-year-old gunned down 10 Black people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. In each case, AR-15-style firearms were used and had been purchased legally by the shooter.

In the wake of the shootings, some are calling for the minimum age requirement to buy such weapons to be raised from 18 to 21.

“It happened in the town I was born in, all right?” McConaughey told Baier about his discussions with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “So it got pretty personal for me. So I go in, and they ask, and I tell them my personal story. And then after that, though, it’s time to get past, or at least partial, and parlay my message, past emotion, and now let’s talk about what’s reasonable.”

Baier noted that the actor often speaks with gun owners in Texas.

“What do they say to you?” the anchor asked.

“I’ve been talking to so many that are gun owners, that own AR-15s, that are responsible gun owners,” McConaughey replied. “I hear so many of them saying, ‘Yeah, pause after purchase, I like that idea.'”

He then addressed a common counterargument against raising the minimum age for purchasing an AR-15. Opponents of the measure cite the fact that 18-year-olds can join the U.S. military.

Here was McConaughey’s response to that point:

You know what the difference is? And the argument would be, “Well, at 18 you can go into the military.” Well, you go into the military with an intent and purpose. And even going into the military, it’s like over a week of training before they’re putting a live round into that semiautomatic, all right?

That’s with intention and purpose. We’re talking about it here in a 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.

Watch above via Fox News.