Court Opinion

ID: 9662708
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 23:15:52.546622+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:14:41.528099
License: Public Domain

John I. Purtle, Justice, dissenting. I do not feel that the record was insufficient to decide this case. This was obviously a test case brought before us to clarify the laws as presently exist in regard to precious metals dealers. The majority merely skirts the issues and forces additional litigation to decide what should properly be decided now. The pleadings and other material in the record expose the issues sufficiently to allow us to understand and decide the underlying controversy. The appellant operates as a pawnbroker as defined in Ark. Stat. Ann. § 67-1130 (Repl. 1980); accepting pledges on various items, some of which admittedly contain or are composed of precious metals. She does not purchase items for resale because of their precious metal content and does not maintain equipment for weighing or assaying precious metals. As a pawnbroker, she is required to keep records to identify property pledged to her as well as records on the identity of individuals pledging such property. She uses forms provided by the Arkansas State Police and the City of North Little Rock. She is required to submit such records to the police and make her place of business available for inspection by the authorities at almost any time. The statute in question here is Ark. Stat. Ann. § 71-5401 (Supp. 1981) which states in part: No person including a pawnbroker shall engage in the business of buying . . . precious metals . . . for the purpose of reselling the same . . . without first obtaining a license . . . Similar language appears in the contested city ordinance, North Little Rock Ordinance No. 5369. The language is designed to regulate persons in the business of buying precious metals for resale. These persons had not specifically been regulated by the state prior to the enactment of this legislation. The phrase “including a pawnbroker” would seem to me to mean that any pawnbrokers who enter into the business of buying and reselling precious metals would have to have a license to do so. If the legislature were to pass a bill stating “no person including a minister shall engage in the business of operating a gasoline service station without obtaining a license,” it would not mean that the minister would be obligated to be licensed unless he operated a service station. The legislation we are dealing with in this case would apply to a pawnbroker who set up a facility for buying and reselling precious metals, whether inside or outside his pawnshop. However, appellant did not set herself up as a “precious metals exchange” or in any way alter her presently ongoing business. It would be ridiculous to require still more licensing and regulation for one who is presently licensed, well regulated and reporting her activities regularly to the proper authorities. I would, therefore, reverse and remand this case for a proper order allowing appellant to continue in her business of pawnbroking without coming under this particular regulation until such time as she decides to engage in the business of buying and reselling precious metals.