A Republican state senator punched a Democratic senator in the head in the Alabama Senate chamber on Thursday, saying the Democratic senator insulted his mother. Republican Sen. Charles Bishop expressed regret after the spat, but he didn't immediately apologize.

Bishop said knocking Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron on the head was "not the way grown men solve their problems."

Bishop claimed Barron called him a "son of a (expletive)."

AP reports Bishop said, "I responded to the comment with my right hand."

"I was raised in the in the woods of Arkansas, and people don't say that about your mom," he said.

Barron claimed he never made any such comment and said it was actually Bishop who hurled an expletive at him.

Barron said Thursday he had not yet decided whether he is going to file charges.

"I would like to finish today in a productive manner," he said after the punch. "I will evaluate the situation tomorrow on what I may do."

Residents of Madison County scoffed at the senators' behavior.

According to waff.com, one resident said, "They're acting like babies, kids, and that should not be, that should not be."

"They just voted themselves a nice hefty raise, and they can't seem to play nice in the sand box," another resident said.