Space in FL is like the wild west. The police are around the main towns etc and each place usually has it's own small defence force but there are bandits and sometimes they can get big.
There were no real civilians roaming around the wild in those days. You carried the guns that the bandits and the law carried too. You may not be as good as using guns as them but you certainly had them.
Why does a starflier have guns after all?
Space is a dangerous place and you need to be prepared.
