US Rep. Cloud Introduces Legislation to Block Federal Gun Control During Emergencies
US Rep. Cloud Introduces Legislation to Block Federal Gun Control During Emergencies
Texas Scorecard
Debra McClure | March 12, 2025
Republican U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud of Victoria introduced the “Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act,” to prevent the federal government from using national emergencies as a pretext for unconstitutional gun control measures.
H.R. 2039 is a response to previous Biden administration Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s June 2024 advisory declaring firearm violence a “public health crisis.”
“We saw during COVID how government agencies exploited emergency powers to strip Americans of their freedoms—including attempts to use public health declarations as a tool for sweeping mandates and restrictions,” said Cloud.
According to Cloud‘s office, the 2024 advisory violated the Second Amendment and “was a thinly veiled attempt to justify radical gun control measures—including public carry bans, firearm confiscation, so-called ‘assault weapon’ bans, magazine capacity limits, strict storage mandates, and a national gun registry.”
In February 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order preventing the federal government from infringing on Americans’ Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Cloud’s “Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act” aims to support President Trump’s measure by blocking government overreach and ensuring that no administration—specifically the Secretary of Health and Human Services—can use the excuse of a declaration of an emergency to impose unconstitutional gun restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.
According to Cloud, “The federal bureaucracy has made it clear they will seize any opportunity to expand their control at the expense of our liberties. We must steward this window of opportunity to re-secure these rights for the American people and ensure no administration can use emergency declarations as a backdoor for unconstitutional gun control.”
Hunter King, Director of Political Affairs for the National Association of Gun Rights, said the legislation is “necessary to stop the collusion between a gun grabbing executive branch and their bureaucratic counterparts.”
The legislation awaits further action by the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Energy and Commerce.