Yesterday State Senator John Douglas (R-17) brought SB 303 before the Senate Natural Resources Committee. SB 303 is the epitome of stupid legislation. Sen. Douglas brought this legislation because he read a tragic news story about a two year old killed by a python, a family pet, in Florida. Upon further research he found that there were a lot of snakes being released into the wild in Florida.
Sen. Douglas said he wanted to take a proactive approach to this potential problem. There is debate as to whether the snakes could thrive in the wild in Georgia, but Douglas doesn’t want to take any chances. This bill would require owners of anacondas and pythons to purchase a license from the state, register each snake with the state, and microchip said snake. The estimated yearly licensing fee would be $236. The estimated cost to microchip is $100. The average cost of a baby python is $180, but can go much higher depending on age, length, and type. This legislation would effectively make a $180 purchase turn into a $516 purchase. This is nothing more than a tax, and an excessive tax at that at over 200% of the cost of the product.
The issue Douglas used over and over again was safety. If people would have to register and microchip their animals, they wouldn’t be likely to let them loose into the wild. Douglas used the story of the two year old to insinuate that loose pythons would pose a public safety risk. There has never been a single recorded case of a python killing an American in the wild. There was only one recorded death in the US in 2008 relating to pythons, the above mentioned child. While I do not think that it is the role of the civil government to regulate or continually tax private property, if John Douglas is hell bent on doing so, he could have picked a more dangerous target, here are a few: Continue reading John Douglas Hates Snakes and Poor People
