A proposal to help reduce mass shootings

Before I begin:

The following is not a critique or condoning of any specific stance.  While I believe in the Second Amendment, I also believe that we should be smarter in how firearms are regulated.  I hope you find this well thought out and logical.

So after yet another mass shooting, we get the usual clamor for more gun control and how no one seems to ever do anything about.  Sure, cries to ban assault weapons is always cried out, but nothing ever comes of it.  And no one seems to offer any real practical ideas.  Well, I have one.  It won't solve the problem completely, but it would definitely be an improvement, and quite possibly could have prevented what happened in Orlando.

One of the questions brought up is why was the suspect able to buy weapons when he had been investigated several times by the FBI?  Even though he had the proper permit to do so, shouldn't this have been part of the decision?  The answer is this:  there is none to little cross checking in our government agencies.  This 'wall' has led to other big situations in the past, for example 9-11.  My solution is thus:

1.  Create a national database of the people who have been in trouble with the law (including the above mentioned investigations) that all government agencies have to contribute to.

2.  Whenever anyone buys a weapon from a gun store or similar store, the buyer has to submit their social security number, ID or license number as well as a scan of at least one finger.  This information is sent to the database and if there is any potential conflict, the purchase request is flagged and checked.  If it turns out to be a false flag, it is disregarded.  If not, then the sale is denied and the reason(s) are both entered and updated in the database, as well as sent back to the store, where it is given back to the potential purchaser along with instructions on how challenge this ruling if necessary.

All the shops that sell firearms would be required to participate in this program and will need a finger scanner and internet connection for this, which honestly is not that expensive.

While this is not an end all to the problem, it would definitely help reduce the problem more than a simple ban of certain firearms or the 'closing of firearm show loopholes' some people always like to bring up.  Think about it:  what do the last several mass shootings have in common?  Answer:  all their weapons were bought legally, yet after the fact it was found that there were red flags in one government department that wasn't discovered due to each agency not sharing potential valuable information.

We need to think smarter on this, otherwise it will keep going in the vicious cycle it has been going in.  I mean they keep hammering the point that those on a government watch or no-fly list shouldn't be getting firearms.  Using my solution would help fix that.

Just my thoughts...