The Greenwood city council recently approved changes to requirements for secondhand dealers, including gun and pawn shop owners and managers.
Council members voted unanimously to change the already drafted ordinance to require the owners of pawn shops and secondhand dealerships to submit fingerprints and criminal history checks every year.
Before the change, owners of pawn shops and secondhand dealerships had to renew their license annually and pay a $25 fee to the city to process it. But they did not have to provide a fingerprint criminal history.
This change helps make sure that all secondhand dealers, including chain stores such as Half-Price Books and Game Stop, go through the same process, and would reduce the time and expense it takes Greenwood police to process applications.
The cost of a fingerprint criminal history is about $40, according to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency.
Greenwood police proposed this change to the original city rule, which took effect in 2014, to help them keep track of any criminal activity involving pawn shops and secondhand dealers.
