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regulation of sexually oriented businesses and are valid in that context if <br /> based upon studies documenting the adverse secondary effects such 1111 <br /> businesses have on adjoining areas. Although pawnshops do not enjoy any <br /> First Amendment status like sexually oriented businesses, buffer zones <br /> around pawnshops may confuse courts into thinking such buffers need to <br /> be supported by studies documenting the adverse secondary effects of <br /> pawnshops. A city could, however, argue that because most ordinances <br /> prohibit minors from pawning or selling merchandise to a pawnbroker, a <br /> buffer zone from "youth land uses" such as schools and child care centers is <br /> in direct furtherance of one of the goals of the ordinance: the protection of <br /> minors. A more cautious approach may be to simply zone pawnshops in <br /> districts where there are few "sensitive land uses." No cases could be <br /> found on this specific zoning issue. <br /> • <br /> M. Usury <br /> The annual rate of"interest" charged by many pawnbrokers, which can <br /> reach as high as 35 percent, presents many consumer protection issues. <br /> Minnesota, like most states, regulates the maximum rate of interest a <br /> person can charge under the state usury law--Minnesota Statutes Sections <br /> 334.01-334.20 (1994). The usury statute provides, in part: <br /> No person shall directly or indirectly take or receive in money, <br /> goods, or things in action, or in any other way, any greater sum, or <br /> any greater value, for the loan or forbearance of money, goods, or <br /> things in action, than $8 on $100 for one year. <br /> The Minnesota Department of Commerce, in conjunction with the Attorney <br /> General's Office, is to report in 1995 to the Legislature whether the current <br /> usury law applies to pawnbrokers. Several states have applied their usury <br /> 12 <br />