Congressman Tim Burchett is taking aim at the growing government surveillance state.
His newly introduced H.R. 9800, the Protection Against Mass Surveillance Act, would prohibit federal agencies from purchasing, operating, accessing, or contracting for Flock cameras and other automated systems that identify and track Americans.
The bill also targets facial recognition and biometric surveillance, blocks state and local governments from using federal funds for covered systems, and requires illegally obtained federal data to be deleted and kept out of court.
Texas Gun Rights says the bill is an important first strike.
But it will not stop the surveillance network already spreading across Texas.
Texas Is Building the Network
Flock cameras record license plates, vehicle characteristics, dates, times, and locations. Linked together, those records can reveal where someone travels, which locations they visit, and whom they associate with.
Fort Worth reported operating approximately 250 Flock cameras in 2024, with captured data generally stored by Flock Safety for 30 days. Dallas later authorized a three-year Flock contract worth up to $5.74 million.
Texas DPS also operates a License Plate Reader Program requiring participating agencies to contribute plate reads to its system. DPS documents describe pooling and sharing data among local, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies.
This is no longer a handful of cameras checking for stolen vehicles.
It is the framework for a statewide tracking network capable of reconstructing the movements of Texans who have never been accused of a crime.
A Backdoor Method of Tracking Gun Owners
Gun owners have every reason to be alarmed.
Congressman Scott Perry has publicly warned that Flock cameras were used at the Ocala Shooting Range in Florida, recording vehicles entering and leaving a public firearms facility.
Those motorists were not necessarily criminal suspects. They were arriving to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
The government does not need the serial number of every rifle in Texas if it can identify vehicles repeatedly visiting shooting ranges, gun stores, gun shows, training facilities, and gun-rights meetings.
That creates a backdoor method of identifying and cataloging gun owners through their lawful movements and associations.
“The government does not need your rifle’s serial number if it can track every trip you make to the range, gun store, gun show, or gun-rights meeting,” Texas Gun Rights President Chris McNutt said.
“That is a gun-owner registry built from your movements instead of a Form 4473.”
Austin Buried the Fight Once
State Representative Brian Harrison attempted to rein in automatic license-plate readers during the 2025 legislative session with H.B. 961.
His bill would have required a warrant or court order, limited the use of plate-reader data to violent-crime investigations, required prompt destruction of unrelated records, restricted data sharing, and required agencies to publish annual reports.
Austin politicians referred the bill to committee and allowed it to die without a vote.
Texas Gun Rights says that cannot happen again.
The organization is calling on lawmakers to revive and strengthen Harrison’s proposal by banning warrantless government tracking, preventing Texas agencies from feeding Texans’ movements into federal or national databases, and requiring prompt deletion of information unrelated to legitimate criminal investigations.
Law enforcement should investigate criminals based on probable cause.
It should not record everyone’s movements and search through the database later.
One is targeted police work.
The other treats every Texan like a suspect.
Texas Cannot Wait on Washington
Burchett’s H.R. 9800 would shut federal agencies out of Flock networks and cut off federal funding for state and local use.
But it would not stop Texas cities, counties, and state agencies from financing the same surveillance machinery with state or local tax dollars.
That job belongs to the Texas Legislature.
“Congressman Burchett is right to confront the federal surveillance state,” McNutt said. “But Texas cannot wait on Washington while local governments build the same machinery with Texans’ money.”
“Austin buried this fight once. Texas Gun Rights intends to make sure lawmakers do not get away with it again.”
Texas Gun Rights is launching its “STOP FLOCK’S BACKDOOR TRACKING OF GUN OWNERS” Petition to pressure state lawmakers to act.
