I think the Zero Tolerance policy the ATF has adopted is part of a larger campaign to of civilian disarmament consisting of: making private transfers of firearms illegal and forcing everyone doing things legally to use an FFL, cracking down on FFL holders so there are as few as possible to drive costs massively up, make as many crimes as possible strip people's gun rights, and then have the feds "helpfully" step up to take guns off people's hands.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/atf-agents-carrying-rifles-raid-oklahoma-gun-dealers-home-confiscate-guns