I can see this is quickly going to become a "hate on Texas" thread, rather than considering why Texas is doing this, which I think has some very legitimate ground. Texas seems to generally recognize that when power is concentrated into a point, that power is almost certainly abused, and is incredibly dangerous. It harks back to the old phrase "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

It really is simple; Texas generally fears a tyrannical government more than they fear a random shooting. So they give freedom to guns to spread out power. While certainly not risk-free, I think it's a legitimate stance.