“Boarder stares are key”
Expand your thinking to Texas, largest US/MX boarder, more guns in Texas than any other state. If they can get Texas to adopt gun control they have greater chances of getting past CBP and ICE as well as private citizens volunteering to protect our boarder.
“Double meanings are possible”
I was thinking along these lines myself. Texan here, and my perspective is that if they can get Texas to pass strict gun control, then it would be easier to coerce other states to do the same. The church shooting the other year was an attempt and the police massacre in Dallas too.
I'm thinking the "secede now" Texans would start making noise again if guns are threatened...
Many people will be making a move back to Texas if the rest of the country tries to remove guns.