Employees of BenShot, a small glassware company, display their firearms in their workshop in Hortonville, Wisconsin. Each worker received a handgun as a Christmas present from the company.(Photo: Courtesy of BenShot)

HORTONVILLE, Wisconsin – A company that makes novelty glass objects with a bullet as if it had been fired decided to give each employee a handgun as a Christmas present.

Giving employees the choice of the revolver as a gift is part of an effort to promote personal safety and team spirit, said Tuesday Ben Wolfgram, co-owner of BenShot, based in Hortonville .

The company has 16 full-time employees, including several veterans. But the company also has employees who have never shot with a gun, he said.

It's the first time his company has done something like this, Wolfgram said. The father-son company was established in 2015 in a small garage workshop in this village of about 3,000 residents located 100 km northwest of Milwaukee.

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Most of the workers were enthusiastic about receiving their handguns, he said.

An employee of Green Bay Bay, an employee of Chelsea, said that she felt like the gift would give her more power and help her stay safe.

"I've never been part of this kind of project," she said.

At least two employees initially refused the gift, but plan to accept it after taking a firearms safety course required by company officials before giving the weapons, Wolfgram said.

The national debate on firearms has recently been rescheduled after shooting on Oct. 27 in a Pittsburgh synagogue and November 7 th in a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. Two months ago, an armed man injured four of his colleagues at a software company in Middleton, Wisconsin, before the police shot him and killed him.

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Wolfgram said he does not worry about workplace violence because his company has a small staff and all employees know each other well.

"For us, we now have all the armed personnel," he said. "I think it's pretty good."

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