I don't disagree with you that what McNutt did was not the proper way to get done what he wanted done. I am saying it is childish of Bonnen to use that as an excuse to kill a bill he already did not like. That is not serving the people of the state properly, that is serving his need to be "the boss".
He did what any speaker from either party would have done. Yes, he's asserting his authority, but he's also protecting his members. If he had let the bill go through in the wake of this, what would have happened the next time this jackass or another jackass had gotten impatient with the the process? You'd see more of it or worse, somebody would up the ante.
I'm speculating on this, but knowing Bonnen and his record and his style, he probably wasn't overly hostile to the bill. If he had been, he would have told his committee chair not to set it for hearing at all and give a platform to people who would likely make a big and pretty public push for the bill, which they have every right to do. It also wouldn't make much sense. He has pretty much an unblemished record on Second Amendment bills for the last 22 years. I doubt that he hates this bill, even if he's not a big fan.
The committee has a Democratic chairman, but he's not a gun-hater, and the GOP has a majority on the committee. They likely would have referred the bill out as a committee substitute that cleaned up some language in the bill and yes, made some compromises (so long as they were OK with the author), and sent it to Calendars, which likely would have sent it to the floor. If that had happened, it would have surely passed.
I will say this though, and you won't want to hear it. The gun rights advocates are probably on the downward trend in terms of influence at the Capitol for two reasons. First, there isn't a whole lot left for them to do. The biggest items on their agenda that had broad support have already passed starting with the concealed carry legislation back in 1995. Second, the 2018 election scared the hell out of the Texas GOP leadership (Bonnen, Abbott, James Dickey, and even Dan Patrick). They see the suburbs slipping away from them (especially suburban women), and they know their majority and their lock on state offices won't hold up if they keep hemorrhaging suburban support. I'm not saying they're going to start pitching gun control anytime soon, but they're likely to be deemphasizing cultural and social issues (and gun rights are perceived as a cultural issue even if they actually are not) and putting greater emphasis on things that resonate with suburbanites (such as education, property taxes, etc.).
