There was nothing related to a personal attack in my post. I didn't question your character or slander you. My opinions were drawn from the words typed on your keyboard. My opinion is that that you were being narrow-minded and hypocritical when you first posted. You might have misunderstood the context in which I called you hypocritical but that might be my issue for not explaining it properly. You are appearing more open minded as the thread develops.

Neither of my assessments of you qualify as overgeneralization. An overgeneralization would be stating those facts about all people that are for banning large constrictors. You use overgeneralizing when you state that you support large snakes being banned (by implying no one can responsibly house or handle these animals). That is an irrational statement because there are many large snake enthusiasts that responsibly own animals. Those people contradict your generalization.

I think it is hypocritical to own snakes and support a ban on snakes. It is a disservice to all snake keepers by supporting a constrictor ban. There are people that would be for banning all species of snakes. In this context it is hypocritical to watch ownership rights dwindle purely on the basis that some snakes are "different". Large constrictors might just be the tip of the iceberg. It would be unfortunate to realize that we could have had something to do with saving our rights as snake keepers but failed only because we looked out for our own specific interests.

In conclusion we should simply hold the people responsible for their own animals. An animal that is kept responsibly isn't a threat. The responsibility inherantly lies within the keeper, not the animal. We must differentiate between responsible and irresponsible owners. People doing illegal or irresponsible things do those things regardless of the laws or regulations. I don't beleve that the majority of people keeping large snakes fall into that category. These people are the ones that will be affected the most under this ban.

Regards,

B

P.S. I am not aiming to offend anyone. I call things like I see them. People love me or hate me usually and I don't care either way. One thing I never do is throw around insults or attack someone's character. I also don't ever hold grudges or opinions. Nice to see your opinion has changed!