19801202 1980-24ORDINANCE NO. i980'~24
AN ORDINANCE A~NDING CHAPTER 14
OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FAIRFAX, VIRGINIA.
TO ADD A NEW SECTION 14-13.1.
BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council that Chapter 14
of the Code of the City of Fairfax, Virginia, be and it
hereby is amended to add a new Section 14-13.1 to read in
its entirety as follows:
"14-13.1 Dealers of Precious Metals, Gems and other
~ersonal property; retention of item's acquired.
(a) Definitions.
(1) Dealer - Any person, firm, partnership
or corporation engaged within the City in the business
of purchasing precious metals, gems or other personal
property as defined herein within the City, provided
however, that retail merchants permanently located
within the City shall be exempted insofar as they
make purchases directly from manufacturers or whole-
salers for their inventories. This definition includes
merchants whose business is itinerant in nature as
well as those whose business is permanently located
in the City. As used herein "dealer" includes employers
and principals on whose behalf the purchase is made
and all employees and agents who personally make such
purchases.
(2) Precious Metals - Any item containing
as part of its composition gold, silver, platinum or
pewter in any degree.
(3) Gems - Any item containing or having
any precious or semiprecious stones customarily used
in jewelry, for ornamentation, or for industrial
purposes.
(4) Other Personal Property - Binoculars,
watches, cameras, televison sets, radio and stereo
equipment, musical instruments and philatelic materials.
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(b) Requirement for Records.
(1) Each dealer shall record the purchase,
barter, exchange, or other receipt of any item described
in subsection (a) and also any subsequent disposition
of that item from his possession. Recording shall be
on forms obtainable from the City Police Department
and shal 1 include:
1. The date of the transaction;
2. A comprehensive description of the item
including any visible identification marks such as
initials, name of manufacturer, model and serial
numbers and owner applied identification numbers;
3. Its estimated fair market value;
4. The name, address, and date of birth of the
person from whom the item is received. The dealer
shall require proof of identification of that person
or a driver's license or similar credentials, unless
the person is known to the dealer.
(2) The completed Police Department form
shall be transmitted by the dealer to the City Police
Department no later that three days after the date of
any transaction listed on the form except in the case
of intinerant dealers who shall transmit such form to
the Chief of Police on the day of purchase in accor-
dance with Section 12-35.
(c) Prohibition of Dealing with Minors or
Purchasing Stolen Property.
No dealer shall purchase, barter, exchange
or otherwise receive any item described in subsection
(a) from a minor under the age of eighteen (18),
unless the dealer has on file a notarized authorization
from the minor's parent or guardian authorizing the
dealer to transact business with the minor. No
dealer shall purchase precious metals, gems or other
personal property described herein from anyone whom
the dealer believes or has reason to believe is not
the owner of said items.
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(d) Retention of Items.
No dealer including employees and other
persons acting for the dealer shall melt, alter or
otherwise destroy or change the identity of or dis-
pose of any item described in subsection (a) which
has been received by the dealer until a period of
fifteen (15) days shall have elapsed after the date
of submission of the report required by subsection
(b) or the item is inspected by the City Police
Department whichever shall occur first.
(e) Inspections b~ Police
When property has been reported as stolen
to police authorities in the Commonwealth of Virginia,
the State of Maryland or the District of Colombia, in
order to seek the whereabouts of that stolen property,
any member of the City of Fairfax Police Department
may, during normal business hours in the presence of
the dealer or his representative and in pursuance of
investigating the aforementioned theft, inspect at
the dealer's place of business the records required
to be kept by subsection (b) and any item of property
listed in subsection (a) which corresponds to the
report of theft.
( f ) Penal ty.
Any person or corporation who violates any
provision of this section or who makes any false
statement in connection therewith or who gives false
identification shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a
Class 1 misdemeanor.
(g) Validit~ and Severance.
Each part, section, subsection, paragraph,
sentence, clause and phrase of this chapter is hereby
declared severable. Should any part, section, sub-
section, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of
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-4
the chapter be declared invalid by a Court of ccmpe-
tent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the
validity of the chapter in its entirety or any part
thereof other than that so declared to be invalid.
The City Council hereby declares that it would have
adopted this chapter and each part, section, subsec-
tion, paragraph, sentence, clause and phrase thereof,
irrespective of the fact that any one or more such
parts, sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences,
clauses or phrases, be declared invalid."
This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon
adoption.
Introduced:
Adopted:
ATTE S T -
November 25, 1980
December 2, 1980
MAYOR