‘Tis the season for giving. What’s the oddest holiday gift an employer has ever given you? For the employees of one Wisconsin company, the answer might just be a handgun.
From the Appleton Post-Crescent:
A local business that produces glassware embedded with bullets recently decided to give every employee a handgun as a Christmas present.
Ben Wolfgram, who co-owns Hortonville-based BenShot, said the decision to give employees handguns as a gift was made as part of an effort to promote personal safety and team building.
Most employees were excited at the prospect of receiving their handgun, Wolfgram said. Chelsea Priest, an employee, said she felt empowered by the gift, which she believes will help keep her safe.…
At least two employees initially declined the gift, but are considering accepting it after taking a gun safety course the business had employees take before getting their guns, Wolfgram said
Wolfgram said he wasn’t worried about workplace violence because his business has a small staff and all of the employees know each other well.
“For us, now, we have an entire armed staff,” he said. “I think that’s pretty good.”
But is it? Is an armed staff really “pretty good?” I, for one, do not believe that guns belong around the American workplace, period. Whether it’s an, office, warehouse, factory, school, or whatever. Guns do not belong at or near work (even if my state believes differently about employees’ parked cars on your property). Even as a holiday gift.
This post originally appeared on the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog, and was written by Jon Hyman, Partner, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis. Jon can be reached at via email at jhyman@meyersroman.com, via telephone at 216-831-0042, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter.
