Can you show me even ONE instance of an anti-gun ownership state being "changed from within" and repealing its anti-gun laws? Didn't think so.
Prior to the mid-1990s, numerous states prohibited citizens from legally carrying a loaded handgun outside of their own property under most circumstances, concealed or not, and "pro-gun" Texas was one of these states. (Although laws regarding gun
ownership in TX have always been relatively lax AFAIK, laws regarding
carry used to be quite strict.)
Believe it or not, establishing a shall-issue CHL process in TX was quite a legislative battle. Then-governer Ann Richards, a Democrat, blocked it. Numerous factions, including many in law enforcement, opposed it as well. The tide changed when the citizens
voted and made their voices heard.
FWIW efforts to legalize open handgun carry in TX
continue to languish today, despite a solid Republican majority in both houses of the legislature and a Republican governer.
Also, moving away due to gun laws is not the answer, it only allows single partisan politics to thrive in communities and states. My idea is that if I/we live in a state that constricts gun ownership, I/we can be part of the party to change that, rather than allowing a state of ignorant, gun fearing rubes to prosper.
+100, this is the whole purpose of the American electoral process.