imported post
I don't think you risk sounding like a nutcase at all when you say you're no fan of the ATF. Even other LE agencies don't like ATF.
Beginning with the fact that NFA'34 and GCA'68 are without Constitutional authority, all laws and regulations flowing from those acts are unconstitutional. The ATF, as the enforcers of those laws and regulations, are violating their oaths to uphold the Constitution.
There's nothing wrong with antipathy towards ATF; every gun owner, freedom lover, constitutionalist, or civil libertarian should have nothing but contempt and hostility towards the organization, no matter how polite and professional individual employees might be.