# 119-s-884: ATF Transparency Act

119-s-884, ATF Transparency Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-884
- As of: 2026-08-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-884
- Congress: 119
- Title: ATF Transparency Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-03-06
- Sponsor: Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-08-11

## Summary

**Three-business-day deemed approvals for National Firearms Act transfers.** This bill would speed transfers and the making of regulated firearms by deeming applications approved if the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives does not decide within three business days and by creating an administrative appeal system for denied applications. - Applicants who receive a denial would gain a formal appeal to the Treasury Secretary, access to a Voluntary Appeal File style process to submit correcting information, and reimbursement of reasonable attorney fees if their appeal succeeds. - Sellers and makers get a safe harbor if a transfer was deemed approved and later found improper, provided the transferee returns the firearm within 14 days of notice. The bill applies the same three-business-day deemed-approval rule to making and registering firearms. - New oversight and coordination are required. Within 180 days the Government Accountability Office working with the DOJ Inspector General must report on NICS queries left unresolved after 90 days and recommend administrative fixes, the DOJ Inspector General must report on how often the FBI ran NICS checks for ATF, and ATF and the FBI must sign a memorandum of understanding on NICS processing.

## Cosponsors (9)

- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Lummis, Cynthia M. [R-WY] (R-WY), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Sheehy, Tim [R-MT] (R-MT), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS), 2025-03-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-03-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA), 2025-11-20T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Faster gun transfers after 3 days: benefit, low. If enacted, applications to make or transfer a firearm would be treated as approved if ATF does not decide within 3 business days. The agency could still deny an application, but only for substantive legal reasons. If the agency later decides the transfer should have been denied, it must notify the…
- More appeals and transparency for background checks: benefit, low. If enacted, ATF would have to give transferees the NICS transaction number when a transfer is denied. Transferees could appeal denials to the Secretary under a process like current FBI appeal rules. Applicants could submit information through a Voluntary-Appeal-like program. The Secretary would pay…

## Related bills

- 119-s-3752: SAVE America Act
- 119-s-401: Fair Access to Banking Act
- 119-s-587: Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025
- 119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2025
- 119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act
- 119-s-1715: Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act

## Sources
- [119-s-884 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/884)

## Related
- [119-s-3752: SAVE America Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3752)
- [119-s-401: Fair Access to Banking Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-401)
- [119-s-587: Death Tax Repeal Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-587)
- [119-s-186: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-186)
- [119-s-6: Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-6)
- [119-s-1715: Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1715)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-884 (as of 2026-08-11).