HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Game Commission is taking final steps to fully implement its electronic license sale system, referred to as point-of-sale.

As part of the point-of-sale process, hunters will swipe their Pennsylvania driver's license through a magnetic reader and all of their personal information will be filled in on the application automatically, according to a game commission news release.

Hunters then will be able to select the licenses and stamps they want to buy. Nonresidents must enter the data manually.

"After the first time a hunter purchases a license this way, he or she will be assigned a permanent customer identification number that will be stored in an electronic file so in subsequent years they will need to only enter changes in the types of licenses or stamps wanted," said executive director Carl G. Roe in the news release.

"This will not only speed up the license buying process, but it also will remove the burden of having to worry about identify theft since, once someone purchases a license through point-of-sale, we will no longer ask them for their Social Security number.

In August, Active Network took over Automated Licensing Systems, the company originally hired to produce the new license sale system. A pilot electronic license sale system was launched at 15 sites on Sept. 22 and was expanded in mid-December to some of the agency's larger issuing agents.

"This final phase will enable the agency to be ready in June, when the 2009-10 licenses go on sale, to sell licenses in a manner that will be a huge improvement for the agency, our issuing agents and our license-buying customers," Roe said.