Rep. Brett Hulsey facing questions after taking box cutter to Capitol

MADISON (WITI) -- A Madison lawmaker is facing questions regarding what he was doing with a weapon at the state Capitol. This, after one of Democrat Brett Hulsey's own staff members says she feared for her safety. Hulsey says he is the target of political payback for criticizing Republicans.

"All I was doing was checking the rules," Hulsey said.

Hulsey is under investigation for bringing a box cutter to his Capitol office and later threatening to bring in a muzzle-loaded shotgun.

"They're worried about me?  It's like, come on.  Give me a break," Hulsey said.

Hulsey says he was trying to highlight what he sees as the danger in the state's concealed carry law, and he pointed to Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Bill Kremer's claim about bringing a gun into the chamber.

"The gentleman speaking on the floor regularly brags about carrying a 13 round semiautomatic weapon that is used by mass murderers.  I think that is bullying.  I think it's inappropriate and I think we should not have weapons in the state Capitol," Hulsey said.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he and Democratic Leader Peter Barca looked into the box cutter incident and found no reason for discipline.

"I think his behavior could be described fairly as 'odd,' but then again in a workplace there are people who are a little more odd than some members," Vos said.

This is the latest in a series of incidents in which Hulsey has displayed offbeat behavior. During the height of the 2011 union protests, he broke through a wall of cameras and commandeered Gov. Walker's podium.

Last summer, he was involved in an argument with a nine-year-old boy at a Madison beach in which Hulsey allegedly knocked the boy off an inner tube.