Angela Arnett walked into EZ Money Pawn and Jewelry near closing time Thursday afternoon, hoping to pawn a digital camera for some quick cash.

Co-owner Edgar Mills looked over the camera, and after a few seconds gave it back to Arnett, saying the store had too many cameras for sale and in pawn to accept yet another.

With that, Arnett walked back out to her black and pink Chrysler Sebring, her attempt to obtain some gas money flustered.

In a development that gives new meaning to the term “fuel economy,” more people are turning to pawnbrokers in the wake of skyrocketing gas prices, using jewelry, electronics and other valuables to secure the loans that will help pay for their trips to the gas pump.

Arnett, a Bowling Green resident who works at Long John Silvers, has already limited her driving to little else outside of her work commute, but still struggles.

“I don’t go anywhere right now,” Arnett said. “I put about $30 in my gas tank every two weeks. I’m scared to fill it up.”

EZ Money co-owner Jeff Mills sees a daily parade of motorists desperate for fuel money. Business at his Clay Street shop has accelerated because of the gas crunch, with several first-time customers pawning items.

“Every day for the past three months, I’ve had people come in wanting gas money,” Mills said. “I’d say over that time there’s a 30 to 40 percent increase in the amount of pawns I’m doing.”

The shelves in the storeroom where items are kept in pawn are full – one shelf is packed with computers, another with stereo equipment. One corner of the storeroom is dedicated to large flat-screen TVs, which can net a customer a loan of close to $200, depending on the quality of the TV.

Musical instruments and equipment are backed up in another corner, and gathering at the bottom of one shelf are paint sprayers brought here by professional painters.

“They don’t have the gas money to drive around to job sites, so they have to pawn the tools they work with,” Mills said.

The pawn shops are attracting numerous first-time customers, who tend to require a crash course in pawning.

In essence, this is the process: Someone in need of money approaches a pawnbroker to request a loan, using a valuable item (often a piece of jewelry or a fairly new piece of electronic equipment) as collateral.

The pawnbroker determines the worth of that particular item and then advances the customer a loan in that amount for a period of 30 to 90 days. State law requires the loan to be repaid with 22 percent interest within that time frame, or else the pawnbroker takes possession of the pawned item.

Barbara Meeks, co-owner of RSM Sales and Pawn Shop on the U.S. 31-W By-Pass, said the first-time customers she sees are feeling the economic shock brought on by high gas prices, but repeat customers are especially strained.

“Weekend workers and people who get monthly (Social Security) checks, they’re on a limited income as it is,” Meeks said. “Because of gas prices, they don’t have the finances to make it to the next check.”

Pawn shop owners are seeing an influx of new customers, but the items being pawned have not changed drastically; the owners say that jewelry, tools and car audio equipment are by far the most commonly pawned goods.

Because of the rush, owners have to be more discerning when it comes to accepting goods to sell or hold in pawn.

DVDs and digital cameras, because of their widespread availability and low retail value, aren’t likely to be accepted as valuable items to hold in pawn, and many stores have too many in supply for resale for owners to buy additional ones.

Chris Hendrix, owner of West Side Pawn and Jewelry on Old Morgantown Road, said sales have slowed, while loans have increased at his store.

“People are starting to sacrifice luxury items for items of necessity, they’re not buying that car radio or gold ring,” Hendrix said. “I’ve got a lot of loans out, a store full of stuff and a (cash register) drawer full of nothing.”

Pawnbrokers admitted some people have failed to repay their loans, but the rate at which that has occurred has not appeared to increase for them.

In some areas of Kentucky, gas prices have surpassed $4 a gallon, and diesel fuel prices have long since exceeded that amount.

“We’ll have to see what happens over the next two or three months,” Hendrix said. “If gas goes to $5 a gallon, I might sell out of guns. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”