ATF Transparency Act: Firearm Transfers Automatically Approved After Three Business Days

The newly introduced ATF Transparency Act aims to overhaul how the federal government processes applications for transferring or making certain firearms, focusing heavily on speed and accountability within the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

The 72-Hour Clock: Speeding Up the NICS Check

The biggest change in this bill is the new deadline for the ATF, detailed in Section 3. Currently, if you apply to buy or manufacture a regulated firearm, the government can take a while to process the NICS background check. This Act slashes that timeframe to a strict 3 business days to approve or deny the application. If the agency, usually the ATF, misses that deadline, the transfer or manufacturing application is automatically considered approved. This is a massive shift, essentially prioritizing administrative speed over potentially lengthy investigations. For the average person buying a regulated firearm, this means an end to the frustrating weeks or months of waiting that sometimes happen due to bureaucratic backlog.

However, this automatic approval comes with a catch and a potential risk. If a transfer is automatically approved because the 3 days ran out, but the ATF later discovers the buyer was legally prohibited from owning the gun, there’s a limited immunity clause. The person who sold the gun won’t face criminal charges related to the illegal transfer. The buyer also avoids charges—but only if they return the firearm within 14 days of being notified of the error. This provision creates a tight window where a prohibited person could temporarily possess a firearm if the system fails to catch them in time, trading public safety oversight for guaranteed processing speed.

Right to Appeal and Getting Your Legal Fees Back

Section 2 addresses what happens when an application is denied because the government believes the transfer would violate federal or state law. The Act mandates that the applicant must be given the specific NICS transaction number and the right to appeal that denial directly to the Secretary (the ATF). This formalizes an appeals process similar to what’s already used for NICS appeals.

Crucially, if you successfully win your appeal, the Secretary must reimburse you for all “reasonable and necessary attorney fees.” This is a significant win for fairness. If you’re a law-abiding citizen wrongly flagged by the system—a common issue due to mistaken identity or incomplete records—you won’t have to pay out of pocket to clear your name and exercise your rights. It puts the financial burden of correcting bureaucratic errors squarely on the government.

Putting the NICS System Under the Microscope

Section 4 is all about transparency and forcing the agencies to clean up their act. It requires the Comptroller General and the Justice Department’s Inspector General to generate reports for Congress within 180 days. These reports must detail how many NICS checks between 2010 and 2024 remained unresolved after the standard 90-day period. They also have to recommend ways the ATF can administratively reduce those long, unresolved delays.

Furthermore, the Act mandates that the Director of the ATF and the Director of the FBI enter into a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) within six months. This agreement must specifically outline how they will handle and process NICS inquiries moving forward. This is an attempt to end the finger-pointing and bureaucratic siloing between the agencies that often leads to processing delays, ultimately aiming for a more streamlined, accountable system.