You’re contradicting yourself; either I live in a society where I’m free to do things like build guns (machine guns even) or I do not.
The BATFE is just a prime example of how I am *NOT* free; I mean they declared that a [insert explicative] shoelace was a machine gun!
Then there are the other ways in which you are restricted. Like city “codes” enforcement. There is something fundamentally wrong when a society that both claims to be free sees no problem with making it illegal to cut down a tree that is on your own property w/o the proper ‘authorization’ from the city/county/state or whomever else is required.
Take automobiles as an instance; are you able to throw together an engine, drive-train, and steering apparatus together and have a “street worthy” car? Or does it have to have seat belts & pass the emissions testing & so forth?
Yes, and then they retracted that.
ATF really only started acting the way they do within the last 20 years or so. Only a few Presidents ago. They actually used to be fairly helpful little outfit that was a simple revenue agency. They'd come across someone with an unregistered machine gun and they'd kindly give them a Form 1 to register it with and a pre-paid envelope to mail it in with, even.
Your freedom as an American should be to demand that this desperado government bureau you speak of be reined in, scrutinized, regulated, or ultimately disbanded.
That's what an American would do, rather than flipping their wig and emigrating to Somalia to live their lives in peace without the weight of the government jackboot on their necks just because they can't put robotic flamethrowing turrets in their front yard or rig their car with an explosive booby trap to prevent auto theft.
Honestly, I'm in favor of machinegun ownership and so on, but I'm not a friggin' unhinged nut about it.