38-1-202. Holding period before transfer or alteration of purchased items.
(a) It is unlawful for any person or corporation engaging in the activity described in § 38-1-201 to sell, exchange, barter or remove from the place in which such business is conducted, or to change the form of any such items by remounting, melting, cutting up, or otherwise changing the form of any such items for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of purchase. The provisions of this section do not apply to persons or corporations engaged in the reclamation of precious metals through the reprocessing of used film or other similar materials that in their original form contain precious metals but were not intended to be items of jewelry, or become antiques or be marketed exclusively for the precious metals contained in the materials.
(b) No person acting as a buyer or dealer under this section shall purchase any item covered by this section from a person under eighteen (18) years of age, nor accept any item covered by this section from anyone who appears intoxicated, nor from any person known to the person to be a thief, or to have been convicted of larceny, burglary or robbery, without first notifying a police officer. Any person acting as a buyer or dealer under this section shall exercise due care to comply with this section.
(c) No person acting as a buyer or dealer under this section shall take any item covered by this section under a buy-sell agreement, when the article is known to the person to be stolen.
[Acts 1980, ch. 766, § 2; 1981, ch. 424, §§ 1, 2; T.C.A., § 38-607; Acts 1985, ch. 311, § 1; 1992, ch. 943, § 1; 2009, ch. 282, § 1.]