The law is a lot of bark and almost no bite. Why? Because the federal government has quite enough resources - isn't that what all the yammering about FEMA buying millions of rounds of ammunition was all about, the fed's resources? - to enforce federal law on its own and it really doesn't need state law enforcement. So, instead of dealing with local law enforcement, who know the temperature and tenor of the local community, and are more likely to take into account someone's bona fides and use prosecutorial discretion to avoid meting out too harsh treatment, people running afoul of federal law will instead be "entertained" by federal law enforcement, like FBI and ATF, and they are gorillas, they don't care who you are, they don't care if you're really a nice guy who just made some innocent mistakes, they only care about whether they can make a proper example out of you, and when they decide to do so, they will crucify you. Pilate and his soldiers had nothing on the federal law enforcement thugs.