[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of West
Springfield 5-7-2018 (Ch. 10,
§ 10-200, of the Codified Ordinances). Amendments noted
where applicable.]
No persons or other entities shall be dealers in or keepers
of shops for the purchase, sale or barter of junk, old metals or secondhand
articles or go about collecting same in this Town unless they are
duly licensed by the License Commission or designee pursuant to the
provisions of Chapter 140 of the General Laws; this shall include
pawn shops, secondhand stores, jewelry stores, and any other establishment
that receives secondhand goods from individuals in exchange for money,
trade, or store credit or any combination thereof. For purposes of
this chapter, the holder of any such license shall be referred to
as a "junk dealer."
The License Commission may restrict the types of goods in which
a junk dealer may trade (e.g., a jewelry store may have its junk dealer
license restricted to jewelry, precious metals or related items, which
would preclude that junk dealer from trading in electronics, tools
or musical instruments, etc.). An unrestricted junk dealer license
shall constitute a pawnbroker's license.
Junk dealer shops and all articles of merchandise therein and
any place, vehicle or receptacle used for the collecting or keeping
of the articles by a junk dealer may be examined at all times by the
License Commission, the Police Chief or their designee.
Any applicant for a junk dealer's license shall submit to a
criminal offender record inquiry ("CORI") as part of the application
process. Licenses may be denied or revoked if the results of the CORI
are found to be unsatisfactory in the discretion of the License Commission.
Every junk dealer shall maintain a written or electronic record
system. At the time of the purchase of any article, the junk dealer
shall record in said system: a description of the article, the name,
age and residence of the person from whom such purchase was made and
the date and time thereof. Such records shall at all times be open
to the inspection of the License Commission, the Police Chief or their
designee.
No junk dealer shall, directly or indirectly, purchase or receive,
by way of barter or exchange, any of the articles referred to in these
sections from a minor, knowing or having reason to believe them to
be such.
A.
No junk dealer shall purchase or take in pawn any item if it appears
that such item has had any serial numbers or identifying marks removed
or apparently removed.
B.
For the purpose of this section, "identifying marks" shall include
but not be limited to serial numbers, engravings, initials or similar
inscriptions on rings, watches or other jewelry or similar inscriptions
on other items.
No article purchased or received by a junk dealer shall be sold
until at least 30 days from the date of its purchase or receipt has
elapsed. This restriction may be modified or waived at the discretion
of the License Commission to accommodate certain business practices.
Violations of this chapter shall be grounds for revocation of
the license hereunder. Junk dealers shall have no property right in
any license issued under this chapter and such license may be revoked
at the discretion of the License Commission.
