Louisiana Bans Cash For Sales Of Anything ‘Used’

BATON ROUGE, La. — The State Legislature and Governor of Louisiana have passed a law that bans individuals and businesses from transacting in cash if they are considered a “secondhand dealer.”

House Bill 195 of the 2011 Regular Session (Act 389) broadly defines a secondhand dealer to include “… Anyone, other than a non-profit entity, who buys, sells, trades in or otherwise acquires or disposes of junk or used or secondhand property more frequently than once per month from any other person, other than a non-profit entity, shall be deemed as being in the business of a secondhand dealer. ”

The law also states that “A secondhand dealer shall not enter into any cash transactions in payment for the purchase of junk or used or secondhand property. Payment shall be made in the form of check, electronic transfers, or money order issued to the seller of the junk or used or secondhand property…”

According to law specialists, this essentially includes everyone buying or selling anything used., thereby outlawing the free use of  U.S. legal tender, and forces businesses to turn over to police authorities the names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and license plate number of vehicles traded, including a detailed description of the item purchased.

Established as a pretense of cracking down on crime, the bill, argues critics, costs individuals their privacy, with personal economic repercussions, civil liberty loss, and is an attack on freedom.