‘The Perfect Gift:’ Company Giving Handgun To Each Employee As ‘Christmas Bonus’

HORTONVILLE, Wis. (CBSLocal) — A Wisconsin company that produces novelty glassware is giving each of its employees a handgun of their choice as a Christmas bonus this holiday season.

BenShot makes bulletproof drinking glass products, including whiskey glasses, beer mugs and decanters, with bullets embedded into the glass. The father-son company, based in Hortonville, Wisconsin, has 16 full-time employees.

This is the first time BenShot has done anything like this, according to co-owner Ben Wolfgram. He says giving employees their choice of revolver as a gift is part of an effort to promote personal safety and team building.

“We are a small, close-knit team at BenShot. I want to make sure all of employees are safe and happy – a handgun was the perfect gift,” Wolfgram told WISN.

To comply with state law, each employee was given a gift card to purchase the weapon with a background check conducted by the seller. The gift cards cost about $8,000.

Wolfgram says he isn’t worried about workplace violence because he has a small staff and all of the employees know each other well.

“For us, now, we have an entire armed staff,” he told the Appleton Post-Crescent. “I think that’s pretty good.”