Well that's where the debate comes in. People who are really into herps should be able to keep whatever they want, by that I mean educated herptologists who knows the risks and knows how to house the animals properly. I would feel more comfortable if someone of your obvious experience owned a komodo dragon, but if you could get one it would also mean these clowns I see everyday could get one, so might as well make them completely unavailable.
At my store we don't sell gators or big snakes, like retics or anacondas, or even burmese pythons. Our customer base is simply not prepared to keep those kind of animals so we don't bother. It's nice actually, for the benefit of the animals.