[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Borough of Metuchen 6-2-1980 by Ord. No. 80-16; amended in its entirety 4-10-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-05.[1] Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also changed the title of this
chapter from "Precious Metals and Gems" to "Precious Metals, Gems
and Secondhand Goods."
A.
The purpose and intent of this chapter is to assist law enforcement
officials and victims of crime in recovering stolen precious metals,
gems and other secondhand goods by reporting minimum identification,
reporting, maintenance and distribution criteria for dealers in these
goods.
B.
No person shall use, exercise, or carry on the business, trade, or
occupation of the buying and selling or pawning of precious metals,
gems or other secondhand goods without complying with the requirements
of this chapter in the exact manner described.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A current valid New Jersey driver's license or identification
card, a current valid photo driver's license issued by another
U.S. state, a valid United States passport, or other verifiable U.S.
government-issued identification, which will be recorded on the receipt
retained by the dealer and subsequently forwarded to the local police
department on request.
Any person, partnership, limited-liability company, corporation,
or other entity who, either wholly or in part, engages in or operates
any of the following trades or businesses: the buying for purposes
of resale of precious metals, jewelry, or other secondhand goods as
defined herein; pawnbrokers as defined herein; itinerant businesses
as defined herein. For the purposes of this chapter, transient buyers,
as defined herein, are subject to the same licensing and reporting
requirements as any other dealers.
A dealer who conducts business intermittently within the
Borough or at varying locations.
Any person, partnership, association or corporation lending
money on deposit or pledge of personal property, other than choses
in action, securities, or printed evidences of indebtedness; purchasing
personal property on condition of selling it back at a stipulated
price; or doing business as furniture storage warehousemen and lending
money on goods, wares or merchandise pledged or deposited as collateral
security.
Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and their alloys as defined
in N.J.S.A. 51:5-1 et seq. and N.J.S.A. 51:6-1 et seq.
Individuals and retail sellers, not to include wholesale
transactions or transactions between other merchants.
Every transaction conducted between a dealer and a member
of the public in which precious metals, jewelry, or any other secondhand
goods as defined herein are purchased or pawned.
Used goods such as antiques, gold, silver, platinum, or other
precious metals, jewelry, coins, gemstones, gift cards, any tools,
telephones, typewriters, word processors, GPS devices, computers,
computer hardware and software, television sets, radios, record or
stereo sets, electronic devices, musical instruments, sporting goods,
automotive equipment, collectibles, game cartridges, DVDs, CDs, and
other electronically recorded material, firearms, cameras and camera
equipment, video equipment, furniture, clothing, and other valuable
articles. For the purposes of this chapter, "secondhand goods" shall
not include goods transacted in the following manner:
Judicial sales or sales by executors or administrators;
Occasional or auction sales of household goods sold from private
homes;
Auctions of real estate;
The occasional sale, purchase, or exchange of coins or stamps
by a person at his permanent residence or in any municipally owned
building who is engaged in the hobby of collecting coins or stamps
and who does not solicit the sale, purchase, or exchange of such coins
or stamps to or from the general public by billboard, sign, handbill,
newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or other form of printed or
electronic advertising.
A member of the public who sells or pawns used goods such
as precious metal, jewelry, or other secondhand goods to a dealer.
A dealer, as defined herein, who has not been in a registered
retail business continuously for at least six months at any address
in the municipality where the dealer is required to register or who
intends to close out or discontinue all retail business within six
months
Any person, partnership or corporation in the full- or part-time
business of purchasing gold, silver, precious metals, gems and other
secondhand goods in the Borough of Metuchen shall maintain a written
record of all reportable transactions.
Said record shall be contained in a book bound with stitching,
glue or other type of permanent binding and shall not be contained
in any looseleaf, spiral, insert or other type of semipermanent or
temporary binding. There shall be no spaces between entries, and each
entry shall be numbered in sequence. Said record shall be legible
and contain the following information:
For every reportable transaction between a dealer and the public,
the dealer shall be required to do as follows:
A.
Require of each person selling or pawning precious metals or other secondhand goods acceptable identification as defined above in § 137-2.
B.
Require each seller to execute a declaration of ownership, which
shall contain the following certification: "My signature confirms
that I am the sole legal owner of and am legally authorized to sell
the goods being sold. By signing below I certify that I did not obtain
and do not possess the identified goods through unlawful means. I
am the full age of 18 years and the identification presented is valid
and correct."
C.
Record and issue to each person selling or pawning such goods on
a sequentially numbered receipt:
(1)
The name, address, and telephone number of the purchaser, including
the clerk or employee of the dealer making the purchase;
(2)
The name, address, date of birth, and telephone number of the seller
or sellers;
(3)
A photographed recording of the seller in a format acceptable to
the Chief of Police, along with a physical description of the seller,
including height and weight (approximate), hair color, eye color,
facial hair, if any, etc.;
(4)
A photographed recording of the seller's presented acceptable identification, as set forth in § 137-2, in a format acceptable by the Chief of Police;
(5)
A photographed recording of all items sold in a format acceptable
by the Chief of Police. When photographing, all items must be positioned
in a manner that makes them readily and easily identifiable. Items
should not be grouped together when photographing or imaging. Each
item should have its own photograph;
(6)
The receipt number;
(7)
A detailed, legible description of the item(s) and the manufacturer
and model of the item(s) if known; in the case of jewelry, the descriptions
must include style, length, color, design, and stones, if any; any
identifying marks, including numbers, dates, sizes, shapes, initials,
names, monograms, social security numbers engraved thereon, serial
numbers, series numbers, or any other information, which sets apart
the particular object from others of like kind;
(8)
The price paid for the purchase or pawn of the item(s);
(9)
If precious metals, the net weight in terms of pounds Troy, pennyweight
(Troy) or kilograms/grams; fineness in terms of karats for gold, and
sterling or coin for silver, in accordance with N.J.S.A. 51:5-1, N.J.S.A.
51:6-1 et seq.;
(10)
The time and date of the transaction.
The information contained in § 137-5 shall be electronically submitted to the Borough of Metuchen Police Department Detective Bureau within 72 hours of the transaction in the form and as required and provided for by the Chief of Police.
The dealer shall make the records required by this chapter available for inspection of any law enforcement officer, upon demand, without the need for advance notice. The records required by this chapter shall be kept at the dealer's business premises. In addition to all other reporting requirements, every dealer shall maintain for at least five years a written record of all purchases of precious metals, gems and other secondhand goods in the form prescribed in § 137-5C.
A.
All secondhand goods purchased, received for pawn, or received for consignment as described above are to be made available for inspection by the Chief of Police or designee thereof at the designated business address for a period of at least seven calendar days from the date the transaction information is actually reported to the Chief of Police in the approved manner described above in § 137-6, except for precious metals and jewelry, which must be maintained for at least 10 business days or for the statutory period provided in N.J.S.A. 2C:21-36(d).
B.
All precious metal or other secondhand goods subject to inspection
must remain in the same condition as when purchased or received for
pawn and shall not be sold, disposed of, changed, modified, or melted
by the dealer until the retention period has expired. Itinerant businesses
and transient buyers will be responsible for notifying the Chief of
Police of the location where the purchased item(s) are being held.
No dealer shall sell, melt, change the form or dispose of any
articles purchased or received for a period of 10 days from the date
the notification is made to the Chief of Police. All such items shall
remain on the premises where the purchase was made until the expiration
of the time period set forth herein.
Any person who shall violate any provision of §§ 137-1 through 137-9 of this chapter or shall fail to comply with any of the requirements thereof shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished as provided in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article 1. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues.
