I totally agree with being wary of the slippery slope! I'm right with you!

If I got to write the laws, I'd probably require an inexpensive permit to own and/or sell the biggest and most dangerous species. But, since I don't get to... I'm not sure how I feel about the permit laws, for exactly the reasons you mentioned.

I was just really happy to see an article that didn't go with the sensationalist end of things and target snake owners because so many people are afraid of snakes and even if they aren't afraid, they may see wanting to own one as pretty weird, or a sign that you are a gang member or into witchcraft. It was nice to see recreational boat owners lumped into the same category for transporting non-native aquatic plants from one place to the next. And instead of "gosh it might eat your dog or even kill you", it talked about the very real damage done to ecosystems by all non-native species, and the very high $$ costs in damage and efforts to control such things as fire ants and feral hogs.