The neglect and abuse is a totally seperate issue to me. People neglect dogs ALL the time, and no one is proposeing that we should ban or regulate owning dogs. How about horses? There's record numbers of horses being neglected, abandoned, or taken to shelters.. and no one is suggesting we ban or regulate horse ownership.
The issue I have is with BANS. If it is a responsible system of permitting.. then I'd be okay with that. HOWEVER.... Rhode Island has a permitting system.. and no one gets permits. They instituted a system that requires you to go get a permit to own XXX(nearly every exotic out there), but instead of regulating the ownership of exotics.. they've basically outlawed it, since they simply do not give out any permits.
I'd like to see a case where a large monitor lizard killed someone in the U.S. Looking around, I don't seem to see any news articles. Once in a great GREAT while, a giant boid will kill someone, generally the owner. And of course, on occasion, a hot will kill someone, again.. generally the owner.
How many people are killed by dogs? Where's the legislation outlawing those? Horses? No laws against horses as dangerous animals. COWS kill people every year!!
It's RIDICULOUS to say that reptiles should be banned due to their dangerous nature.. when nearly any other pet out there kills/injures hundreds more people each year than the reptiles do.