If you're going up against the FBI, don't surround yourself with family.
Easy enough.
Randy Weaver did nothing illegal at all.
He had been the local sheriff, and knew the law very well, and would never have violated the law.
What the FBI charged him with is shortening a shotgun barrel 1/4" under directions from an FBI customer, and that is not illegal.
When the sawed off shotgun ban comes into play legally, is what you do with the shortened barrel?
If you use it to launch grappling hooks, it is perfectly legal.
If you use it for blanks on a sound stage or to start races, it is perfectly legal.
If you add a choke to the end of it, that makes it perfectly legal even if you assemble it back into a hunting shotgun.
And Randy Weaver did not shoot at any FBI, so the FBI had no legal authority to start the shooting.
It was outright murder.
It was a sneak attack.