Andrew & Tom,
I've been meaning to call both of you to talk privately about this NC Bill. Since it's already out in the great wide open let me express some of my feelings, in a polite & concerned way.

If I'm not mistaken this Bill came about from some sort of ban or tougher restrictions being sought by the NC legislature last year or a few years ago. It was viewed by some as a sort of compromise.

Before I go any further let me say that I can't disagree with someone & still love 'em to death. They don't become my enemy because of it. I mean, heck, I've been married to the same woman for 18yrs. I'm also a "less governement, more freedom" type of person.

I'm a NC resident and this Bill will affect me. To be perfectly honest, without being hateful or rude, I felt like we were sold out when I first heard of the compromise. I'm not stating that we were sold out, I'm just saying that I personally had/have a thought that we might've been. Now, I realize that I wasn't in on the discussions of this Bill and I don't know how close the other measure was to passing, how much support it had. I'm a fair man and I try to keep an open mind. That's why I wanted to talk to you personally about it, but health & other things have kept me from being able to.

I'd like to see the whole Bill, to see how the regulators are going to get paid, what kind of fees we're going to have to pay, etc...

I'm all for self-policing, but against government intervention/involvement. Ridiculous, far-reaching, proposals is how the extremists get things within their grip. We all know that both of the Bill proposals in Congress now will not pass as they're written - there will be a compromise. The extremists will then get their grubby ol' hands on our reptiles & slowly but surely squeeze 'em out, one by one. Can we say "welfare?" Can we say "taxes?" Etc, etc...

I'd much rather see USARK do something like a Member Drive with affordable membership fees and certain rules, standards, inspections be part of the membership commitment. Have certified volunteers in districts that are willing to do safety inspections for the cost of their gas (I'll volunteer) or something along those lines. To me, that beats the heck out of going through the government and establishing laws.

I'm sure that going through the government is much easier than trying to get the nation organized & willing to cooperate. We're going to have the same occassional escape or attack by non-complying keepers either way.

Now, if the govenrment would allow USARK to police the regulations in this NC Bill instead of it being in the hands of government, that would take some of the sting out of it. As far as I'm concerned.

Please don't misunderstand me. I deeply respect and appreciate all the hard work that ya'll have done. This should not be misconstrued as a bashing, hopefully it's more like constructive criticism. I care. I'm a poor man stuck in no-man's land with very little ways to get the good word out about the reptiles I keep (large constrictors and a few monitors). I do educational shows at local schools and I'm working on getting an article to dispel a lot of the myths portrayed in Rodda's study(?) and map as well as the media's myths.

I strongly believe that our real hope in this fight, which won't end even if the two Federal Bill proposals die, is in the minds of public opinion. We've got to get resposible keepers on camera, TV shows, talk shows, etc... However, this is only one part of many parts of the battle.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to me on this. I surely hope I haven't offended anyone.

Have a good one!
Michael Sanders
(HH)
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American


www.natures-signature.com

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