I have to chuckle about the comments suggesting that providing your SSN 'makes it go smoother'. In the last 2 years I've made about 7 gun purchases. I too thought that by providing my SSN it would make things go 'smoother' or 'faster'. Guess what? Every time I gave my SSN, I got delayed. So after about 3 times, I stopped giving it. Guess what? I haven't gotten delayed on the last 3 purchases. In general, I don't like the idea of providing SSN to ANYBODY, given the high incidence of identity theft nowadays. When you fill in the SSN on your form, remember that there will be copies of that form with that number extant for a long time after your purchase. If the FFL from whom you purchased gets broken in to, your personal info is right there in living technicolor for any thief to acquire.