Matthew McConaughey shares message calling for action following Texas school shooting

Matthew McConaughey shared a passionate message calling for action following the shooting at a Texas elementary school Tuesday that left at least 19 children and 2 teachers dead.

In a message shared on his social media, the actor, who is from Uvalde, the town where the shooting took place, said that the "true call to action now" is for Americans to "take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves, 'What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem?"

"What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state, and neighborhood tomorrow?" he asked in his note. "We cannot exhale once again, make excuses, and accept these tragic realities as the status quo."

"We are failing to be responsible for the rights our freedoms grant us," he continued.

The actor also stated that now is the time for "Americans, Texans, mothers and fathers" to "re-evaluate, and renegotiate our wants from our needs."

"We have to rearrange our values and find a common ground above this devastating American reality that has tragically become our children’s issue," he said.

Describing gun violence in America as "an epidemic we can control," McConaughey said that regardless of the "side of the aisle" one may stand on, "we all know we can do better."

"We must do better," he urged. "Action must be taken so that no parent has to experience what the parents in Uvalde and the others before them have endured."

He also issued a message to the parents and loved ones of the children who lost their lives in the shooting.

"And to those who dropped off their loved ones today not knowing it was goodbye, no words can comprehend or heal your loss, but if prayers can provide comfort, we will keep them coming."

McConaughey joins the wave of public figures speaking out to call for immediate and actionable change following the shooting in Texas.