[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 632 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 632

  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 2, 2023

 Mr. Risch (for himself, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Lummis, 
 Mr. Lankford, 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.--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 
90 calendar 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.''.
    (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 90 calendar 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 2021 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 2021 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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