Recording and Reporting Gold Purchases and Sales to Local Police~~~

As some of us here are actually numismitists and as many know I work in a coin shop I thought this would be an interesting topic.

I put it in politics because it involves local politics to me.

As we know gold has been at record high levels. Many places now advertise that they are now buying gold.
We have done this for many years at the shop I work in.

Of course with the high levels on gold buying stolen gold is always a risk.

I live in a small city of about 27,000 residents and a councilman (who happens to be a local cop as well) has introduced a measure requiring that all "businesses" buying gold have to report ANY purchases to the local police department.
In addition it would require that we report all gold SALES to the local police department.

His reasoning is that this would aid police in tracking down stolen gold. Seems to make sense until you REALLY start to look at it.

When we buy gold we have the seller fill out a form. They must be at least 21 and show proper ID. My boss has been doing this since the 1970s.
We do it to protect our own butts basically.
The information is confidential unless a police report is filed. Then, if necessary, we will hand our information over to local law enforcement.
It has happened once (before I started at the shop) and the end result was my boss had to return the merchandise to the original owner (his son had stolen it) for nothing.
Bottom line here is that my boss lost money. He paid for it then gave it back for nothing.

We do use judgement when buying. If we are uncomfortable with the transaction we simply don't buy it.

As I understand it pawn shops have a set of rules they must follow. If they put out a loan on it they are required to report and hold for a certain amount of days. If they buy it the items belong to them.

We really don't have a problem with keeping records of what we buy as we have been doing so for a long time. What concerns us is the possibility of making us "hold" purchases for any length of time.
We send a lot of material to the refiners and if we are put on a two week hold for example we lose a lot of control.
With the volatile gold market we can be talking thousands of dollars in a very short period.
Do the police have the right to dictate our business decisions in such a way? Yes, I am aware that I said possibility but in our position we have to think about that.

The reporting of sales is what REALLY irritates us.
Why should the sales transaction between us and any customer be ANY business of local law enforcement?
Why not track the sale of Big Macs for example. Our daily transactions are the business of us (the seller) and our buyers. There is NO reason for local law enforcement to be involved.
Do they need to know which refinery we use? Do they need to know who bought a one ounce Gold Eagle? We don't think so.

In addition I'll extrapolate further and it's not just me it's all legitimate gold buyers and sellers in our city.
Indiana now lets law enforcement enter your home with NO right for you to stop them ore even resist. They don't even need a warrant.

So let's say a corrupt cop finds out (because we have to report) that Mr. X has purchased 30 ounces of gold in a year? It could be tempting now couldn't it?
Enter his house because you suspect he's a cricket abuser and happen upon a bunch of gold.
Of course you could take him to court AFTER the fact.

I know. I'm reaching but still can't figure out why we have to report gold sales to local law enforcement. There are plenty of corrupt cops in these parts.
I read about it in the paper very often.

SO what's your take on having to report both buying and selling gold? Especially the selling.

 

A very big no on both issues, do they ask that every time someone sells a car or buy's one it is reported how about a expensive ring or watch? how about stamps, stock & shares?

 

It seems an unnecessary invasion. I would think that requiring your business to keep records and to show those records to law enforcement if there is a crime/investigation/warrant would be more than sufficient. There is no need to report every transaction to the police. It is none of their business unless there is a crime reported/involved.

 

IMO, the councilman is over-reaching. I'd imagine most wealthy people already report their gold for insurance purposes, and have records available in case of theft. Reporting small amounts of gold to the police seems unnecessary or redundant. I've heard about the old days when gold was illegal to hoard (you could own it, but not hoard it). With that in mind, I'd never want to report anything lol And what about silver? Or other expensive items like diamonds? ...or power-tools (some can run into the thousands)... lawn-mowers... the list is endless lol

So no, I'd prefer to keep the cops out of it until they're needed, or if I need their help protecting my trillion dollars worth of lint.

 

I understand the buy reports, that is pretty standard. Sell reports? Got a warrant? Pretty soon that right will be gone as well sad to say.