Well, up until recently that was pretty much what the Federal government did... It would bundle up the laws and regulations of various states and make them obsolete by passing a universally-agreed-to version of a given law. It used to work fine because lawmakers considered it their jobs to, you know, write laws and resolve differences between the states.
These days lawmakers full-time job is to raise money. The whole "let's work on the laws thing" is just something they do on the side.
Another problem is partisan politics: You'd think that changing a law in regards to the possession of feathers would be a non-partisan thing but this is impossible today. If a bill is introduced by a Democrat--and Republicans were not intimately involved in its writing--it will be immediately opposed by Republicans. This problem works in both directions (Republican introducing a bill will be opposed by Democrats).
This leads to "negotiations" where none are necessary. Also, in order to actually fix laws like this politicians have to essentially bribe "the opposing isle" in order to allow it to be voted on. Absolutely nothing is presented before going through a rigorous process of political bargaining.
A bill could have absolutely no ideological opposition and be non-controversial in any way but will still be blocked unless those putting it forward are willing to trade something for the privilege.