Posted on 02/07/2006 4:30:36 PM PST by SonofLiberty1
Sen. Rick Santorum Introduces S. 2249 The Sportsmen's Privacy Protection Act
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
(Fairfax, VA) - This afternoon Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced legislation to eliminate the requirement in the 1996 Welfare Reform Bill that requires hunters and fishermen to furnish their social security numbers when getting a license.
“Across America, hunting and fishing is an age old heritage that is passed on from one generation to the next. Our outdoor sportsmen should not be required to surrender sensitive information and risk being victims of identity theft to preserve this legacy. This is much needed reform and the NRA would like to thank Senator Santorum for leading this effort in the United States Senate,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist.
Senator Santorum’s bill is a companion to H.R. 4144, introduced in the House by Representative Phil English, also of Pennsylvania. The House version of the bill has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee.
“This proposed law will help save 16 million hunters and another 34 million fishermen who buy fishing licenses every year from falling victim to identity theft,” continued Cox. “On behalf of NRA members across the country, I want to thank Senator Rick Santorum for his support of the hunters and fishermen and his work to preserve our country’s strong outdoor traditions.”
How many hunters were the victim of identify theft because they bought a license?
Is this fixing a problem, or something else?
A few hundred in NY a couple years back...
Okay, I heard nothing about that at all. If applying for a government-issued license can result in identity theft, we're in big trouble.
There's always the venerated tradition of poaching the King's fields and streams. Not that I'm recommending a criminal act, but trout always tastes better when you've had to go a long way to get it.
I was wondering today if Lynn Swann might help Santorum to reelection.
In NY the licenses are issued (hunt/fish/trap) by private businesses as agents for the state (ENCON) and in these cases had also been paid for by credit card.
I don't know about Pennsylvania, but some other states will yank your license if you are a deadbeat dad. Think you can lose some professional licenses as well. Maybe this is why they need the SSNO to crosscheck the data.
If they have no deadbeat dad provisions, they have no frigging right you your number.
Most states have the same arrangement. When the SS card was issued it was only to identify the holder with his SSI account. This is an important first step however much work remains to be done to get this genie back in the bottle.
WI like NY has private stores sell hunting licenses. It can be a hardware store, outdoor store or whatever. You give all your personal data, S.S. # and pay with check or credit card. That's a package guaranteed to lead to identity theft if the merchant is careless with the paperwork.
The S.S. number deal was put in to track down deadbeat dads behind on child support. I think the risk of ID theft outweighs the benefit here. The state and federal gov't already have a number of other ways to track down deadbeat dads (or moms, but that is less common).
even without the identity theft, its still a good deal. i worked temporarily for a state fish and game, and a lot of people applying for licenses either wouldn't put them down, or they complained because they didn't think they had to. i think they might have run the numbers through to look for "deadbeat dads" too.
OK, call me paranoid here but I think there's two reasons that this SSN requirement on hunting licenses is in place: First, it create's in the public's mind a "linkage" between "Bubba's with guns" and "dead beat dads"... Second, it makes it easier in a future Pres. Hillary Clinton administration, using data mining technology to track down at least 16 million hunters who, by definition, own at least one firearm.
...and BTW I'm a life-long hunter and I think this SSN requirement is a crock.
I filled out some short term disability papers for a patient today. They asked for my "The physicians" SS number. I told the patient I would not put my SS on that paper. They said they would not either if they were me.
If he did, he'd build a huge base of support among Republican voters. President Bush better put forth the effort to re-elect Senator Santorum that he did to help that idiot Spectre.
Bill
bump & a PA ping
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