"But that would be the fault of the folks who go rogue -- not the fault of the ban."

I agree mostly although it could be argued that in a society where freedom and the pursuit of happiness are supposed to be important, those criminalizing something that does no harm also bear some blame. Some of the blame should also be laid on hobbyists who do nothing to act in their own self intrests as well.

However the point was not to lay blame. Blaming would do no good. The point was to inspire people to consider the likelihood that allowing the passage of broad laws such as this one will encourage the formulation of more broad laws in the future and indirectly assist in their passage.

I don't have any direct stake in this law as I don't own any of the big 9. In fact it's passage might even give me some short term benefits because it might create more demand for the kingsnakes and ratsnakes I have. In the long term I think it would hurt because I think there are special intrests and certain government officials who would like to ban all herps.

I think that broad laws based on ease of enforcment and expediency rather than science and neccessity have the potential to hurt the hobby and myself way more in the end so I think we really need to push our legislators into considering things more carefully than they are doing now.

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