So does anyone have their players legal status ever come into play in a mission? Does anyone scrutinize their SIN? Try to track their activity? See if they have a carry permit for that firearm or a drivers license?

The way RAW describes it, any license or comlink (not to mention bank accounts, subscriptions, etc, etc) would all be tied to a specific SIN. However, in practical terms having characters maintain one or more identities can get into a lot of irritating minutia for the players....

So how do you handle it?

This just happened recently with my game, where we were scoping out an apartment building in a AAA rated neighborhood. Just by entering a mall, a SIN was requested & checked along with an address. If I didn't enter the proper fake address, there would've been repercussions. Had to perform a memory/composure test.

Only time it's been a major concern with my group was twice.

One: Hacker forgot to get a Fake SIN and the group hit a powerful signal jammer outside of a police station at night, interrupting everyone in the parking lot outside, and a few whisker-antenna out of windows for sneaking data around the Wi-Fi Inhibiting Wallpaper to get intel that they didn't want IA knowing about. A very large troll (From the SWAT team) was chosen to do a "Standard Background Check" on any suspicious vehicles outside. I still remember the player muttering, "Don't check out SINs, don't check our SINs" as he came closer.

Two: Another Hacker (Along with the rest of the group) got nicked. He encrypted his CommLink and all it's intel just before they were grabbed, and he got the CommLink back out of the Evidence Locker. But eventually the encryption of a copy of the files was broken and all his SINs, contacts, and everything else he had connected on it got broken.

Not yet, but I'm ready. Fake SIN (registered under John Smith), Licences, Fake Commlink, Biometric Lock on my real comlink.

In the upcoming game I am planning, I am hoping to make use of this very issue to ham string the players at times, and see how they deal with it all.

I make sure they take care of all the minutia. They have a week between sessions, so they have more than enough time to make sure all their SINs and fake licenses are in order. I also (when I say "I also" I mean the consensus at the table I play at - I'm mostly the GM but every now and then someone else takes a shot at it so I can play also) make them get different licenses for different purposes - an example is my AI PI had a license for PI which covered some of his restricted gear for info-gathering and his restricted sidearms (revolver, stun baton, SnS ammo, constraints, ect... but not the auto-pickers or other B&E gear).

Likewise, a Driver's Permit does not also cover your Predator, nor does a gun permit allow you to own a Sustaining Focus or a Health Formula.

It's cropped up a few times for my group, but check-points are a feature of Denver. Once our face got arrested for drunk driving and the rest of the group were trying to spring him before they examined his identity too deeply and once they ran into a ZDF patrol sweeping through the sewers. SINs were checked and fast-talking was necessary.

When I GM, I try to make sure my team knows what they have legal and what they have to be nervous about carrying.

Commlinks, though. Normally forget those.

I'd like to hear it. Unauthorized personnel inside sewers is Criminal Tresspassing.

I learned very early on from playing with my GM that if you had a SIN you damn well better've had licenses for everything and the proper documentation, fake or not. It wasn't brought up excessively, but it was brought up expertly. A costume and some charms didn;t always work sometimes you needed the proper ID to go with it.

Are there any rules for obtaining real licenses for restricted gear or abilities? If not, should players be allowed to obtain real licenses for things?

Player's Characters are off the Grid. Why would they neede REAL Licenses? Fake ones will Suffice, to go along with those fake SINs.

'Cause some of 'em have real SINs, not fake ones.

Exactly. And real licences can't be busted, unlike fake ones. And if the fake ones get busted, then the associated fake SIN is useless, too.

I think a good rule would be to get a Day Job. For example, if your Day Job is a PPO (personal protection officer) then you have licenses for pistols, shotguns, stun guns, pepper spray, batons, and handcuffs (not 100% accurate... you have the ability to obtain those licenses).

True. But those [licenses] can be handwaved as long as the character acts within the bounds of his Occupation (and he cannot get licenses outside of his occupation either). And again, those Licenses will be tied to his Real SIN. So why worry?

Neraph's Idea above is not a bad one.

If the *real* licensed gun is used in a criminal act, they are jammed.

I lean on my SINners pretty hard, and encourage them to embrace the idea that they are essentially leading 2 lives.
One as a tax paying citizen, and the other as a hired gun. You don't want your legit apartment, legit car, and legit walking around gun to mingle with your shadow stuff. Deniro in "The Score" is the example I use.

If you live in the PCC, don't do dirt in the PCC. Go to one of the other sectors and make your bread.

I have a musician PC who has licenses for flashbangs and smoke grenades as part of his performance equipment, and even for a ballistic shield to protect him while he plays in the tougher bars.