The company that fired this guy is called Village Green Companies, and no, they don’t care, despite what their web site says.  They sure don’t seem to care about their employees.  This is true of most corporations, to be honest.  There are two things that companies fear most.  The first is being sued, and the second is bad publicity.
All laws aimed at employees are designed to address the former.  They don’t really care if you die, as long as they don’t get sued for it. One of the primary functions of the HR department is to prevent the corporation from being sued.  It isn’t to look out for you and your well being as an individual. Laws disarming employees have nothing to do with workplace safety, and everything to do with keeping the company from being sued.
I’m glad that Village Green Companies is taking a black eye over this. Remember the second thing that corporations fear is bad publicity, and that’s the only thing that’s going to make them reconsider these types of policies.