No person shall engage in the operation of a pawnshop or secondhand
shop without first obtaining a license from the Borough of Bellevue.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
PAWNSHOP or SECONDHAND DEALER
A person who either wholly or partly engages in or operates
in the trade or business of buying and selling used goods, including
but not limited to precious stones, precious metals, jewelry, tools,
electrical devices, fixtures, appliances, automobile accessories,
tires, household goods, firearms, coins, trading cards and all other
used items that are purchased, salvaged, traded or received from any
person.
Every pawnshop operator or dealer or secondhand dealer shall
keep a book legibly written in the English language at the time of
acquiring articles in the course of business, which book shall contain
the following information:
A. An accurate description and/or photograph of the article purchased.
B. The name and address of the person selling the article or leaving
the article for a loan. The identity of the person selling the article
shall be verified by the production of a Pennsylvania photo driver's
license, Pennsylvania photo identification card or other similar photo
identification card.
C. The name and address of the person buying the article.
D. The type of identification used to identify the individual in Subsection
B.
E. No pawnshop operator or secondhand dealer shall accept for sale or hold for loan any item from any individual not possessing the type of photo identification as set forth in Subsection
B.
F. Items purchased must be photographed and stored electronically in
a format available for viewing (i.e., JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIF, etc.).
The serial number of any item must be photographed and visible within
the photograph.
G. Items suspected of being stolen or having an obliterated or obscured
serial number must be reported immediately to the Bellevue Police
Department.
The pawnshop operator, dealer or secondhand dealer shall provide
copies of all sales transactions and loan transactions to the Bellevue
Police Department Chief of Police. Copies of all sales transactions
and loan transactions shall be provided to the Chief of Police or
his/her designated officer on a weekly basis.
A. The Bellevue Police Department reserves the right to inspect items
purchased by a dealer, inspect written and electronic log books and
inspect storage areas of the business to inspect items during operational
hours to ensure compliance with this chapter and/or recover stolen
property.
No dealer under this chapter shall sell or dispose of, in any
way, until five days after purchase, any of the following secondhand
articles or goods: precious stones, coins, jewelry, watches, gold,
silver, platinum or other precious metals or similar articles and
firearms. No dealer shall sell or dispose of in any way any other
secondhand articles or goods until 15 days after purchase of the same.
A. Computers and other electronic storage devices (including cellular
phones) must be held for 30 days and may not be altered, deleted or
wiped until the thirty-day time period has expired.
B. Precious metal dealers in Allegheny County are required to upload
transactions to the http://www.papreciousmetals.com website. This
includes jewelry stores or those operating as pawnshops, secondhand
stores or anyone who makes a business of purchasing precious metals.
C. Any dealer who is required to report to Pa Precious Metals shall
not be required to report to Bellevue Borough or pay the fee for compliance
with this chapter.
No dealer under this chapter shall purchase any article from
any person under 18 years of age without a parent or guardian present
and who authorizes the purchase by signature and provides photo identification.
If any dealer is convicted of robbery, burglary, larceny, receiving
stolen property and any other crime involving the unlawful obtaining
of personal property, the license mentioned herein shall be revoked.
The fee for issuance of a license under this chapter shall be
$100 due on or before January 1 of each year.
No exemptions exist for this chapter.
This chapter shall become effective five days from the enactment
of this chapter.