The Division shall grant a license to any person doing business in the State not ineligible to purchase, acquire or possess a pistol or be licensed as a dealer under the provisions of this article. Licenses shall be issued on a form furnished by the Division and be effective for two years from the date of issuance. Licensees shall be authorized to sell pistols at retail as dealers within this State subject to the following conditions, for breach of any of which the license shall be forfeited:
- (a) The license or a copy thereof, authenticated by the issuing authority, shall at all times and places of sale be available for inspection or displayed where it can easily be read.
- (b) No pistol shall knowingly be sold in violation of any provision of this article nor shall any pistol be sold without clear evidence as to the identity of the purchaser being furnished to the dealer.
- (c) A true record shall be made of every pistol sold on a firearm transaction record form. The firearm transaction record form which shall be furnished by the Division shall be signed by the purchaser and by the dealer effecting the sale, each in the presence of the other and shall contain such information as may be required by the Division. A separate firearm transaction form shall be completed for each pistol sold, a copy of which must be submitted to the Division as provided in Section 23-31-140. The dealer shall retain the records for a period of three years from the date of sale or transfer to which the records relate.
- (d) The fee for the issuance of such license shall be one hundred dollars and for renewal one hundred dollars every two years. The license fees shall be retained by the division for purposes of defraying the costs of administering the provisions of this article.
- (e) Each applicant for a license shall post with the Division a bond in favor of the State with surety in the amount of ten thousand dollars. No bond shall be accepted for filing unless it is with a surety company authorized to do business in this State and conditioned that the principal named therein shall not do any act meriting suspension or revocation of his license under provisions of this article. In lieu of a bond, a cash deposit or a deposit of other securities acceptable to the Division of a value of ten thousand dollars shall be accepted. Any person aggrieved by any act of the principal named in such bond may in an action against the principal or surety therein, or both, recover damages. The aggregate liability of the surety for all breaches of the conditions of the bond shall, in no event, exceed the amount of such bond. The surety on the bond shall have the right to cancel such bond giving thirty days' notice to the Division and thereafter shall be relieved of liability for any breach of condition after the effective date of the cancellation.
- (f) In order to insure compliance with the provisions of this article, dealers shall make available for inspection by the chief of the division or his agents, during normal business hours, all pistols in their possession and all records they are required to maintain by this article.
- (g) Each applicant for a license shall furnish to the Division a current federal firearms license and is required to maintain that federal firearms license in good standing as a condition of holding a retail dealer license issued under this section.
- (h) A breach of any of the above conditions or violations of any provisions of this article by a dealer, or the giving of false information by a licensee on an application for purchase or transfer shall result in forfeiture of license, but the licensee is entitled to reasonable notice and proper hearing in the circuit court of the county in which he is licensed.