119-s884

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 884 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 884

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require the Bureau of 
 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to establish an 
 administrative relief process for individuals whose applications for 
 transfer and registration of a firearm were denied, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 March 6, 2025

Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Daines, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Crapo, Mrs. Hyde-
 Smith, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Sheehy, and Mr. Marshall) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
 the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require the Bureau of 
 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to establish an 
 administrative relief process for individuals whose applications for 
 transfer and registration of a firearm were denied, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``ATF Transparency Act''.

SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FOR DENIAL OF FIREARM TRANSFER 
 APPLICATION.

    (a) In General.--

Section 5812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
 ``
            (c) Administrative Relief.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--With respect to any application 
 described in subsection

    (a) for the transfer and registration 
 of a firearm which is denied by the Secretary based on a 
 determination that transferring the firearm to the transferee 
 would violate subsection
            (d) of 

section 922 of title 18, United 
 States Code, or receipt of the firearm by the transferee would 
 violate subsection

    (g) or

    (n) of that section or State, local, 
 or tribal law, the Secretary shall--
 ``
        (A) provide the transferee with the relevant NICS 
 transaction number with respect to such application,
 ``
        (B) permit such transferee to appeal such denial 
 to the Secretary in a manner similar to the process for 
 appeals provided under 

section 25.10 of title 28, Code 
 of Federal Regulations, and
 ``
            (C) permit such transferee to provide information 
 to the Secretary to prevent any subsequent erroneous 
 denial or extended delay by NICS pursuant to a program 
 (as established by the Secretary) similar to the 
 Voluntary Appeal File program described in 

section 25.10

    (g) of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations.
 ``

    (2) Attorney fees.--In the case of any successful appeal 
 by the transferee pursuant to the process described in 
 paragraph

    (1)
        (B) , the Secretary shall reimburse the transferee 
 for any reasonable and necessary attorney fees incurred with 
 respect to such appeal.
 ``

    (3) NICS.--For purposes of this subsection, the term 
 `NICS' means the national instant criminal background check 
 system established under 

section 103 of the Brady Handgun 
 Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901).''.

    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to applications for the transfer and registration of a firearm which 
are filed or pending on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. TIMELY PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS.

    (a) Transfer of Firearms.--

Section 5812 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986, as amended by 

section 2, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new subsection:
 ``
            (d) Processing of Applications.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection

    (a) , if an 
 application described in such subsection with respect to the 
 transfer and registration of a firearm has been filed with the 
 Secretary and the Secretary fails to make a determination 
 regarding whether to approve or deny such application prior to 
 the date which is 3 business days after the date on which such 
 application was originally filed by the transferor, the 
 transfer and registration of such firearm to the transferee 
 shall be deemed to have been approved by the Secretary for 
 purposes of this section and such transfer may be made. The 
 Secretary shall only deny an application described in 
 subsection

    (a) on the grounds that the applicable requirements 
 under such subsection have not been satisfied, and may not deny 
 an application solely on the grounds that a determination 
 regarding whether to approve or deny such application could not 
 be completed by the Secretary during the period described in 
 the preceding sentence.
 ``

    (2) Safe harbor.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--In the case of an application 
 described in subsection

    (a) which, following the 
 expiration of the 3-day period under paragraph

    (1) , has 
 been deemed to have been approved by the Secretary for 
 purposes of this section and for which the transfer of 
 the firearm has been made, if the Secretary 
 subsequently determines that the applicable 
 requirements under such subsection have not been 
 satisfied and that such application should have been 
 denied, the Secretary shall provide actual notice of 
 such determination to the transferor and transferee of 
 such firearm.
 ``
        (B) Criminal liability.--In the case of a 
 determination described in subparagraph
        (A) that an 
 application for transfer and registration of a firearm 
 should have been denied--
 ``
            (i) the transferor may not be held liable 
 for any violation of subsection
            (d) of 

section 922 of title 18, United States Code, and
 ``
            (ii) the transferee may not be held 
 liable for any violation of subsection

    (g) or

    (n) of 

section 922 of title 18, United States 
 Code, provided that the transferee returns the 
 firearm to the Secretary within the 14-day 
 period subsequent to the date on which the 
 transferee received notice from the Secretary 
 regarding such determination.''.

    (b) Making of Firearms.--

Section 5822 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following: 
``Notwithstanding the preceding sentences, if a person files an 
application to make and register a firearm with the Secretary and the 
Secretary fails to make a determination regarding whether to approve or 
deny such application prior to the date which is 3 business days after 
the date on which such application was originally filed by such person, 
such application shall be deemed to have been approved by the Secretary 
for purposes of this section and such firearm may be made by such 
person. The Secretary shall only deny an application to make and 
register a firearm on the grounds that the applicable requirements 
under this section have not been satisfied, and may not deny an 
application solely on the grounds that a determination regarding 
whether to approve or deny such application could not be completed by 
the Secretary during the period described in the preceding sentence.''.
            (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to applications which are filed or pending on or after the date 
of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. REPORTS AND AGREEMENTS.

    (a) Unresolved NICS Checks.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States, 
in conjunction with the Inspector General of the Department of Justice, 
shall submit a report to Congress--

    (1) detailing the number of NICS inquiries received during 
 the period of calendar years 2010 through 2024 with respect to 
 the transfer of a firearm which remained unresolved following 
 the expiration of the 90-day period described in 

section 25.9

    (b)

    (1) of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations; and

    (2) providing recommendations for administrative actions to 
 be adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 
 Explosives to minimize the number of unresolved NICS inquiries 
 described in paragraph

    (1) .

    (b) Administration of NICS Checks.--Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector General of the 
Department of Justice shall submit a report to Congress regarding the 
percentage of NICS inquiries during the period of calendar years 2014 
through 2024 with respect to the transfer of a firearm which were 
administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on behalf of the 
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
            (c) Memorandum of Understanding.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, 
Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Director of the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation shall enter into a memorandum of understanding 
regarding the administration and processing of NICS inquiries with 
respect to the transfer of firearms.
            (d) === Definitions. ===
-In this section--

    (1) Firearm.--The term ``firearm'' has the same meaning 
 given such term under 

section 5845

    (a) of the Internal Revenue 
 Code of 1986.

    (2) NICS.--The term ``NICS'' means the national instant 
 criminal background check system established under 

section 103 
 of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901).
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