Thing is, most high population states are "pro-gun" if you score that as having a shall issue concealed carry regime.
If for no other reason than that they total 43, and out of the 7 restrictive states, only those two are "high population", the others being Hawaii (40th in population), Maryland (19th, ~1/3 of NY), Massachusetts (15th, ditto), New Jersey (11th, ~1/2 of NY), Rhode Island sort of (43rd).
And you have to go down to 29th ranked Connecticut before you get to a de facto shall issue state. California and Massachusetts are also de facto shall issue in many counties/towns, although obviously not most of the high population ones.
If for no other reason than that they total 43, and out of the 7 restrictive states, only those two are "high population", the others being Hawaii (40th in population), Maryland (19th, ~1/3 of NY), Massachusetts (15th, ditto), New Jersey (11th, ~1/2 of NY), Rhode Island sort of (43rd).
And you have to go down to 29th ranked Connecticut before you get to a de facto shall issue state. California and Massachusetts are also de facto shall issue in many counties/towns, although obviously not most of the high population ones.