The place is being held up, he sneaks out, gets to his vehicle and gets his personal handgun. He re-enters the store and chases the robber off. For his efforts, AutoZone fires him the day before Thanksgiving.   This is exactly why I've never met a zero tolerance policy I liked. By their very definition zero tolerance treats every case exactly the same.

He didn't carry his handgun with him for his shift; he kept it in his vehicle. When a co-workers life was threatened he bravely slipped out of the store and returned. AutoZone apparently subscribes to the Bob Costas school of gun thought; more guns are ALWAYS worse than fewer guns. Even if it means the safety of everyone in the store is the exclusive property of an unknown criminal with a gun. You're at his mercy but it could be worse; there could be a law abiding citizen with another gun! That's the kind of idiotic thinking that goes into this zero tolerance policy.

AutoZone has every right to have this policy and to enforce it to this moronic extreme. And the public at large than has a right to judge AutoZone with both its opinion and its auto parts buying dollars.