New bill could protect your bling
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Shops that buy gold in Philadelphia could soon have to follow new regulations to prevent stolen jewelry from being melted down.
The bill is designed to install computerized tracking of all gold purchases to help prevent criminals from having an easy way to sell their ill-gotten goods. Councilman Jack Kelly says he's hoping the tracking system will help people recover stolen items.
"It updates antiquated language and closes loopholes currently on the books, and brings the laws up to speed," said Kelly. "It enables the Philadelphia Police Department to easily track and monitor which might have been sold or pawned as result of a crime which took place."
Brokers say they don't want the rules to include holding anything they buy for a month, because the wait could put them out of business based on fluctuating precious metal prices. City officials say the wait is necessary to give people a chance to report stolen items.