Oh, I read a different story, but yet so similar. This happened a couple of months ago. The moral of the story is, if you work for Pizza Hut, you need to carry a gun. http://www.jamesspiershero.com/
The fact is, large corporations like Pepsico are not interested in the welfare of their employees. Their first priority is to shield themselves from potential law suits with policies like these. My belief is that the policies are fine for that purpose, but discretion should be had when enforcing them. I think that fellow got shafted by middle/upper management.
I'm in the same boat, unfortunately. I work for a beer distributor as a salesman, in one of the worst areas of town. I am licensed to carry a concealed weapon, a right I freely practice while off the clock, but not allowed to bring a weapon into my company vehicle. Fortunately, I've yet to come across any dangerous situations on the job, but in my mind it could be only a matter of time. On a daily basis I'm walking into small stores with numerous gang members with their varying colors of bandanas both inside the stores and outside in the parking lot. The longer I stay on this particular route, the more tempted I am to bring this point up to some of my superiors.