Cook: Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, The Shakiest Gun In The South

Over the past year or so, State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson has devolved into what my grandmother would have called a “hot mess.”

Let’s review what has happened for him to be considered a “hot mess.”

Since about early 2012 Hutchinson has: 1) been sued by political consultants for non-payment of campaign bills; 2) publicly admitted to having an affair; 3) been involved in a domestic dispute with his former mistress who was arrested for assaulting him in an altercation where she even threw a plastic gator head at him for good measure.

On top of all that, Hutchinson was fined by the Arkansas Ethics Commission in a separate case involving undocumented pay to his former mistress who did campaign work for his 2010 election.

Can it get any worse for Jeremy Hutchinson? How about shooting a teacher? With a rubber bullet that is.

Tucked away in an article in Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was this delightful nugget:

After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, Hutchinson became interested in arming school personnel, he said. He was invited to attend an “active shooter” training and – using a rubber bullet-loaded pistol – he mistakenly shot a teacher who was confronting a “bad guy.”

The experience gave Hutchinson some pause, but he still supports giving schools the authority to decide how best to secure their campuses.

He shot a teacher? Are you kidding me? Is his aim that bad?

Last year Hutchinson proposed allowing teachers to be trained by law enforcement and then armed to protect public schools. Hutchinson has experience with weapons as a gun owner and as a hunter, but he still shot the wrong person in a training exercise. It gives one pause on whether or not having non-law enforcement officials carrying weapons in public schools as part of a safety program is such a smart idea.

Let’s not forget Jeremy Hutchinson is the nephew of the Asa Hutchinson. Asa is the NRA’s point person on putting armed guards, not necessarily law enforcement officials, in every school in America.

The irony blows your hair back.

Jeremy Hutchinson faces a strong primary challenge from State Rep. Ann Clemmer and I’m sure many of the issues mentioned here will come up during the race.

I’d bet that neither Jeremy or Asa Hutchinson will be in elective office come January of 2015.