This question has been asked for years, and while I'm not a lawyer, the consensus seems to be to ignore it.

Perhaps someone has been asked to produce it, "in the field", but not to my knowledge.

I haven't ever been asked for it. But then, I've never been asked to produce my PAL "in the field" either.

Mine is inside my gun safe. I wouldn't worry about it.

ps- yes, you can laminate it. You can also make copies of your registration certificates, and laminate those too to carry with your restricted guns. I've done this, while the originals stay in the safe.

pps- I use Postimage for my picture posting needs. Works a charm.