SHOP
Watch LIVE
A glassware manufacturer in Hortonville, Wisconsin, gifted employees handguns for Christmas this year.
What are the details?
Ben Wolfgram, who co-owns BenShot — a company that produces glassware embedded with bullets — opted to gift his employees handguns in an attempt at team building and for personal safety.
The Appleton Post-Crescent reported Wolfgram's business has 16 full-time employees — some of whom are U.S. military veterans.
Wolfgram told the outlet that most of his employees were gratified by the prospect of a handgun, and only two initially declined the gift.
They appeared to reconsider, however, after taking a gun safety course on the company's urging, Wolfgram said.
One employee, Chelsea Priest, said that she feels protected by the gift.
"I've never been a part of anything like this," she admitted.
Wolfgram isn't concerned about workplace violence in connection with the gifts.
“For us, now, we have an entire armed staff,” he said. “I think that’s pretty good.”
Wolfgram told WBAY-TV that his employees' safety is of utmost concern.
"I want to make sure all [of our] employees are safe and happy – a handgun was the perfect gift," he explained.
Anything else?
Wolfgram told WISN-TV that he complied with the law regarding the purchase of the weapons.
Wolfgram said that he told the employees to pick out their handgun of choice, and he provided them with a gift card expressly for that weapon.
"That way the background check was done by the store," Wolfgram said, noting that the company is "a small, close-knit team."
The handguns cost the company about $8,000, according to the outlet.
