Gold Buyers Face New Law
By Rob Bates -- JCK Online, 6/1/2009 2:00:00 AM
A proposed law in Florida, which at press time has passed the state's legislature, would make mail-in gold buyers face many of the same rules that pawn shops and jewelers do.
The bill, introduced by state Sen. Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach), would require Internet gold-buying companies to obtain driver's license numbers from sellers, hold items for 10 days before melting them down, photograph the jewelry they buy, and share that database with police.
The law would impact Cash4Gold, the high-profile gold-buying company based in Pensacola, Fla. The company supports the legislation, it said in a statement.
"A lot of these businesses wanted some guidelines on what they were doing," said Ashley Ligas, legislative aide to Sen. Gelber. She noted there are still differences between the requirements for online and store-based businesses. "Requiring fingerprinting can work for face-to-face business, but with online-based business it is a little more difficult," she noted.
Cecilia Gardner, president and CEO of Jewelers Vigilance Committee, says law enforcement should pay more attention to so-called "gold parties," which could also be targets for thieves since they don't require names and addresses.
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