I carry a retirement weapon as a retired peace officer for much the same reason I started practicing the martial arts as a young man. Being willing to take responsibility for protecting oneself, and loved ones, may reasonably need to be coupled with having the present ability to do so.
I also respect those adults who have chosen not to be lawfully armed for self defense, as that's also their precious right to do so. I don't believe in forcing my moral choices and decisions on others, anymore than I believe others have the right to force their beliefs and decisions on me.
Basically, everything I remember learning about Why & How our country was formed, and the lessons of HS Civics is not hard to grasp, which is why they used to teach such things to children.