Pennsylvania Act 1927-67 — SECOND-HAND DEALERS, LICENSING AND REGULATION IN SECOND CLASS CITIES

Act text

SECOND-HAND DEALERS, LICENSING AND REGULATION IN SECOND CLASS CITIES
                  Act of Mar. 31, 1927, P.L. 95, No. 67               Cl. 11
                                  AN ACT

     Providing for the licensing and regulation of second-hand
        dealers in cities of the second class and prescribing
        penalties.
        Section 1.  Be it enacted, &c., That a second-hand dealer,
     for the purpose of this act, is any person, association,
     copartnership, or corporation, who, either wholly or in part,
     engages in or operates the trade or business of buying or
     acquiring, as forfeited pledges, any of the following articles,
     except from a regularly established wholesale dealer: antiques,
     precious stones, jewelry, watches, old gold, platinum, silver,
     and all other precious metals; all kinds of bricklayers',
     carpenters', planters', mechanics', blacksmiths', tinners',
     plumbers', electricians', barbers', and all other kinds, of
     tools; all kinds of doctors', surgeons', dentists',
     undertakers', draftsmen's, and all other kinds of instruments;
     all kinds of electrical, musical, telegraph, and telephone, and
     all other kinds of instruments; scales, typewriters, adding
     machines, cash registers, dictaphones, phonographs, and all
     other similar devices; all kinds of water, electrical, and gas,
     fixtures, appliances, and supplies; all kinds of automobile
     tools and accessories; all kinds of house and office fixtures,
     furnishings, and appliances; pool and billiard tables; sporting
     goods of all kinds; bric-a-brac; clothing, shoes, and all other
     wearing apparel; trunks, traveling bags, and suitcases; and fire
     arms of all kinds; any wire cable, copper, lead, solder, iron,
     or brass, used by or belonging to a railroad, telephone,
     telegraph, gas, or electric light company.
        Second-hand articles or goods, for the purposes of this act,
     are any of the articles of goods enumerated above, that are
     purchased or acquired as forfeited, pledged from anyone except
     from a regularly established wholesale dealer.
        Section 2.  All second-hand dealers, in cities of the second
     class, at the time of the passage of this act, shall, within
     sixty days of such passage, and every person, association,
     copartnership, and corporation, hereafter desiring to become a
     second-hand dealer, shall, before commencing such business,
     procure a license from the director of public safety in any
     city. All licenses shall be issued to expire on the thirty-first
     day of December, of the year for which they were issued, unless
     sooner revoked, and shall be renewed annually.
        Before any license is issued, the applicant therefor shall
     pay to the city treasurer, a license fee of ten dollars ($10)
     for an itinerant second-hand dealer's license, or fifty dollars
     ($50) for a second-hand dealer's license for a permanent place
     of business. The treasurer shall issue his receipt for the
     payment of such fee. Upon presentation of such receipt, the
     director of public safety shall issue to the applicant a badge
     of an itinerant second-hand dealer, or a license certificate if
     a second-hand dealer having a permanent place of business. Such
     badge shall be worn by such itinerant second-hand dealer at all
     times when he is engaged in carrying on his business, and such
     license certificate shall be hung, and at all times kept plainly
     visible, in the place of business of the second-hand dealer
     having a permanent place of business.
        Section 3.  Every second-hand dealer shall keep a book, in
     which shall be legibly written, in the English language, at the
     time of purchasing or acquiring any second-hand article or
     goods, a full and accurate description of the article purchased,
     and the name and a full and accurate description of the person
     selling the same, together with the address, giving street or
     rural delivery number, and shall, before twelve o'clock noon of
     every business day, report to the superintendent of police, upon
     blanks furnished by him, an accurate description of the article
     purchased together with the name, address and description of the
     persons selling same.
        Every second-hand dealer shall also keep a full and accurate
     record, in the English language, of all articles and goods
     purchased from a regularly established wholesale dealer, showing
     complete invoices of such articles and goods, prepared by such
     wholesale dealer. Such books and records, as well as all
     articles or things purchased or acquired, shall be open at all
     times to the inspection of the officer assigned by the director
     of public safety or the superintendent of police.
        Section 4.  No second-hand dealer shall operate more than one
     place of business, under one license for a permanent place of
     business, and only in the building for which the license is
     granted.
        No second-hand dealer shall purchase or receive any goods
     between the hours of eight post meridian (8 P.M.) and seven ante
     meridian (7 A.M.).
        No second-hand dealer shall receive or purchase any article
     or thing from any person under the age of eighteen, or from any
     intoxicated person, or from any person known to be a thief or an
     associate of thieves, or a receiver of stolen goods, or from any
     person whom said second-hand dealer has reason to suspect to be
     such.
        Section 5.  No second-hand dealer shall sell, or dispose of
     in any way, any of the following second-hand articles or goods:
     antiques, precious stones, jewelry, watches, old gold, platinum,
     silver or other precious metals or any similar articles or
     things until thirty (30) days have elapsed after the purchase of
     same. No second-hand dealer shall sell or dispose of in any way
     any other second-hand article or goods until seven (7) days have
     elapsed after the purchase of same.
        Section 6.  If any second-hand dealer, licensed as aforesaid,
     his clerk, agent, servant, or employe, shall violate any of the
     provisions of this act, or if any licensed second-hand dealer is
     convicted of robbery, burglary, larceny, receiving stolen goods,
     or any other crime involving the unlawful obtaining of personal
     property, or for any other sufficient cause, the director of
     public safety or superintendent of police shall revoke such
     license.
        Section 7.  Any person, association, copartnership, or
     corporation, who engages in or carries on the business of a
     second-hand dealer without a license, or who violates any of the
     provisions of this act, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on
     conviction, shall be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding one
     thousand dollars ($1,000), or be imprisoned in the county jail
     or workhouse for a term not exceeding six (6) months or both.