I actually do have such a proposal.<p>1) You apply for a background check; there will be a fee to cover costs.<p>2) Assuming you pass the background check, you are issued an ID<p>3) Any gun sale would require you to present the ID.  This includes in-state private-party transfers.  The seller keeps (but does not register centrally) a record of this (e.g. a photocopy)<p>Note an unexpired id from #2 is not required for possessing a firearm, merely for acquiring one, and having been issued an ID at some point in the past is not proof that you have any firearms (as you may have never purchased one at all, or you may have sold all the ones you purchased).<p>While not perfect, it is a better system than the current system, and lets you audit people suspected of selling firearms inappropriately.  Individual firearms are not registered, nor is it possible for the government to generate a list of definite gun owners (though eventually it would be possible for the government to generate a list of definite non-gun owners once everyone who owned a gun before the law was in effect is dead).