Local businesses weigh in on legislation

SANDPOINT — According to local business owners, proposed legislation requiring an ID for coin or jewelry sales could have a wide range of impact.

In an effort to make the process of tracking down stolen goods easier for law enforcement, the

Blaine Jacobs of Five-O Guns and Pawn said if passed, the legislation should have no substantial effects on the area’s pawn shops.

“We already have to do all that,” he said. “Since I hold a pawn license, I have to verify and document all that stuff.”

As for the legislation’s necessity, Jacobs said he’d need to examine it more thoroughly but was mildly positive.

“Do I think it’s a good idea?” he said. “Well, yeah. If I had coins that were stolen, I’d definitely like to get them back.”

On the other hand, Mark Gruner of Grunberg Schloss Collectors said the legislation, if passed, would be devastating for him.

“It would probably put me out of business,” he said. “Most of my customers just don’t want to give out that information.”

On top of making his customers uncomfortable or unwilling to do business, the change would require him to revise the way he conducts business. Gruner said he would need to purchase new equipment for taking and maintaining records. The changes might also force him to hire assistants to account for the additional work. Given the additional expenses and lost business, he doubted he could survive the transition.

For all the harm it would do him, Gruner couldn’t see a significant upside  to the bill’s impact on law enforcement.

“The dilemma there is that 95 to 99 percent of the coins we get here are so common, it just wouldn’t fly,” he said. “I mean, a 1963 dime is a 1963 dime.”