I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 613 
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 
JANUARY 22, 2025 
Mr. FULCHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion 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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