The fact is that not everybody in NY feels they can afford to stay...just as not everybody feels they can afford to move.
That decision, like it or not, is based on personal needs and desires, in balance with their ideals. Sure, in an ideal society everybody would stand up for their rights and beliefs, fighting to the bitter end all the time. But this ISN'T an ideal society and will never be.
In fact, any time someone comes along and tries to create an "ideal society" you end up with losses of freedoms along with an increase in oppression.
Sound familiar? Look at history. LBJ and The Great Society. Prohibition. The Civil War. Even the founding of our own nation.
On the one hand an ideal society would have no need for firearms in the first place.
On the other hand an ideal society would not restrict the right to keep and bear arms.
Two different "ideal" visions.
We like to blame "government" for our woes. Well, in real life, there IS no single entity by the name "Government". Government, even in the most oppressive nations in history, is an organization composed of many people. Like it or not, all governments are ultimately supported by their populations, whether they are forced/intimidated into that or not. And all governments succeed or fail in history because of their populations, as well.
Some take a step closer to reality and start naming smaller groups. Like "liberals". Again, this is a group of many people, not a single person. And, like nearly all such groups, the general stereotype does not accurately reflect every individual within that group.
Yes, a single person (or small group of people) CAN affect major decisions.
But the fact remains that in places like NY these laws, which most of us here are protesting with doom-and-gloom, are in place because the PEOPLE are allowing them. Overall, enough people in NY are either encouraging/supporting them or they feel that they don't affect them personally, for whatever reason.
Every decision we make...stay or go, fight or capitulate, vote one way or another...doesn't reflect "ideal" choices.
Heck, how many of us voted G.W. Bush into office? It wasn't a Democrat that signed the Patriot Act into law. What I mean by this statement is that "Conservatives" and Republicans" aren't necessarily the "ideal answer" either. "Liberals" and Democrats aren't the only people we have to watch for. We make a lot of voting decisions not because our choices are ideal...but because they are, quite honestly, the lesser of two evils.