Pa. pawn laws need update to get ahead of bad guys

CRIMINALS FIND NEW targets each time technology changes, which explains, for instance, why stagecoach robberies yielded to bank heists and, more recently, to computer-aided identity theft.

As they switch tactics, the bad guys usually outpace law enforcement by a step or two. Then the police adopt new prevention techniques and the courts draw up new punishments to fit the latest crime, effectively cracking down on the wrongdoing.

In Pennsylvania, however, it appears as if an unacceptable legal lag is allowing today’s burglars to profit too easily from their misdeeds. Specifically, the rules regarding merchandise that passes through pawnshops need to be updated so that those places are less likely to deal stolen items.

An expensive video game system, for instance, can be sold at a pawnshop without the same level of scrutiny given a necklace. The Precious Metals Act, enacted in 1984, requires dealers to report jewelry transactions to the district attorney’s office within one business day. Shops are prohibited from selling the purchased jewelry for five days, reported staff writer Edward Lewis in Monday’s edition of The Times Leader.

Several lawmakers, including state Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, favor putting similar controls on other pawnshop goods. It certainly makes sense to include gaming systems in that list, considering the hundreds of dollars it costs to purchase these electronic gadgets.

Of course, officials should exercise good judgment so that the law doesn’t become overly restrictive, making it unwieldy for Xbox 360 and other video game users to legitimately trade-in their used software. For that matter, pawnbrokers shouldn’t be so overburdened with paperwork that running a lawful business becomes unmanageable.

Perhaps district attorneys, local police agencies and businesses can use the latest computer technology, creating a network to instantly share reports so that it’s less likely a criminal can convert stolen video game systems (or anything else) into greenbacks.

Regardless, lawmakers would be wise to revisit and modify the Precious Metals Act as well as the Pawnbrokers License Act of 1937. The bad guys need to know that, if they choose to try to profit by stealing, it’s “Game On.”

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