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Dell, I know the WA State Drivers License number is long, but it is a better idea to use it than the Social Security number. Due to privacy laws, the SS Number is just about impossible for law enforcement to access without a court order, and that takes a long time. Imagine the cop stopping a pickup with the bed full of someone's tools marked with the SS number. The cop senses that the guys in the pickup stole them, but without being able to identify whose they are in a "timely manner" (which means not very long), about all he can do is write a report about the incident and let them go, probably to get rid of the property somewhere. On the other hand, the driver's license number is almost instantly accessible. Long ago police agencies recommended the Social Security number, but then found that that number was about useless. The driver's license number works a lot better. In my area, pawn shops are required to be licensed and report every pawn or buy to the local police agency. A lot of property is recovered this way, because the pawn shops are required to turn over items that are reported as stolen. But to confirm that they are the right property, at least some of the property must be identifiable, which usually means serial numbers or unique identifying marks. There may be totally honest pawn operators, but in my opinion, most pawn shops would go out of business if they truly never dealt in stolen property. They play the game, perhaps not paying much for property they know or strongly suspect might be stolen, knowing that the police may find out that it is reported stolen and confiscate it. However any pawn shop that accepted property with obviously ground off serial numbers would be really taking a big chance with being charged with a crime. Something similar happened in Spokane a few years ago, and since then the pawn operators have been much more careful. So use the driver's license number. It might do some good some time if you have a theft. The social security number is better than nothing, but not much.
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