Does anybody know what the state of wild ball python populations is like?

[panthercz]

This topic is covered in the VPI Pythons of the World Vol 2: Ball Pythons.
http://www.vpi.com/pythons_of_the_world_vol_2_0

You can also check out this book and video series:
http://www.stevegorzulapresents.com/

NERD's book and website also bring up this very issue:
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBall.html

All in all in some countries ball pythons are collected with care and done responsibly, in others there is little regard to how many are collected.

Bottom line though is, don't worry about. Far more are probably killed for meat and leather than are collected for the pet trade. Besides that, if they banned the import of ball pythons into this country then all those pythons will just end up in Asia as food. They will be caught and sold no matter what, whether it's as pets or food.