I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1700 
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 registra-
tion of a firearm were denied, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 22, 2023 
Mr. FULCHER (for himself, Mr. PFLUGER, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mr. 
BIGGS, Mr. WEBER of Texas, and Mr. TIFFANY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in 
addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require 
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explo-
sives to establish an administrative relief process for 
individuals whose applications for transfer and registra-
tion of a firearm were denied, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ATF Transparency 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FOR DENIAL OF FIREARM 
TRANSFER APPLICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5812 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to any appli-
cation 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 sub-
section (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 rel-
evant 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 in-
formation to the Secretary to prevent any sub-
sequent erroneous denial or extended delay by 
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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 suc-
cessful 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 sub-
section: 
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‘‘(d) PROCESSING
OF
APPLICATIONS.—Notwith-
standing 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 Sec-
retary 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 applica-
tion 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 pur-
poses of this section and such transfer may be made. The 
Secretary shall only deny an application described in sub-
section (a) on the grounds that the applicable require-
ments 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 In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 
end the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding sen-
tences, if a person files an application to make and reg-
ister 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 cal-
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endar 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 pur-
poses 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 ap-
prove 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 re-
ceived during the period of calendar years 2010 
through 2021 with respect to the transfer of a fire-
arm which remained unresolved following the expira-
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tion of the 90-day period described in section 
25.9(b)(1) of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations; 
and 
(2) providing recommendations for administra-
tive 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 Inves-
tigation on behalf of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire-
arms, 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 under-
standing regarding the administration and processing of 
NICS inquiries with respect to the transfer of firearms. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
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(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 na-
tional instant criminal background check system es-
tablished under section 103 of the Brady Handgun 
Violence Prevention Act (34 U.S.C. 40901). 
Æ 
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