US President Joe Biden briefly met Oscar-winning actor and Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey to discuss gun responsibility measures, according to a White House spokesperson.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed at a primary school in Mr McConaughey's hometown on 24 May by an 18-year-old gunman wielding a semi-automatic rifle.
"He is here today to use his platform to call on (congressional) leaders to take bipartisan action to end the senseless killing and pass reasonable gun responsibility measures that we know will save lives," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of Mr McConaughey's visit.
Mr McConaughey, 52, also appeared at a news briefing at the White House, appearing to choke up several times. He held up photos of some of the child victims and talked about their families, what they were wearing on the day they were shot, and what they wanted to be when they grew up.
The actor also went through a brief biography of each victim, slamming his fist in the lectern at one point to describe one of them.
"While we honour and acknowledge the victims, we need to recognise that this time seems that something is different," he said.
Oscar-winning actor and Uvalde native Matthew McConaughey has called for responsible gun ownership in the United States following a deadly school shooting in the town | Read more: https://t.co/Tans7i2jwg pic.twitter.com/oVrmanMkaN
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 8, 2022
"There is a sense that perhaps there's a viable path forward."
In the hours after the shooting, he had said the spate of mass shootings across America is "an epidemic we can control".
It comes after US authorities warned of possible copycat mass shootings after the Uvalde shooting.
In an updated advisory, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also highlighted the risk of violence tied to upcoming events, including a Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights, the loosening of border controls, and the November Congressional elections.
"The United States remains in a heightened threat environment," the DHS advisory stated.
"In the coming months, we expect the threat environment to become more dynamic as several high-profile events could be exploited to justify acts of violence against a range of possible targets."
It stated that targets of attack could include public gatherings, religious institutions, minority groups and ideological opponents.
It added that recent attacks by men acting alone demonstrated the challenge of protecting vulnerable targets and also outlined the possibilities to potential attackers.
"Individuals in online forums that routinely promulgate domestic violent extremist and conspiracy theory-related content have praised the May 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and encouraged copycat attacks," the DHS advisory stated.
"Others have seized on the event to attempt to spread disinformation and incite grievances, including claims it was a government-staged event meant to advance gun control measures."
DHS also mentioned the attack in Buffalo, New York, in which an 18-year-old with an assault rifle murdered 10 African-Americans, and a 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas that targeted Hispanic people.
"Both the Buffalo and El Paso attackers indicated they were inspired by the 2019 attacker of two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand."
The warning also stated that foreign groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State Group, and people backed by the Chinese, Iranian and Russian government, could encourage and amplify violence and conspiracy theories to deepen divisions in US society.
"As the US 2022 mid-term elections approach, malign foreign actors could bolster their messaging to sow discord and influence US audiences in keeping with practices during previous election cycles," DHS stated.
