Assuming the laws of his state allow for it, the priest you quote is within his legal rights to carry a concealed weapon; he is also quite correct that all life is sacred, including his own. Those who agree with him may even point to a saint, St. Gabriel Possenti (better known as
St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows), who once used a handgun to frighten away bandits terrorizing a town (
source).
I sympathize with your unease though. The image of priests carrying weapons is a strange one to contemplate, not because Christians are called to be pacifists, but because priests are called to be “other Christs” and Christ himself rejected the use of weapons in his own defense (
Matt. 26:51-53). The Catholic spirit thus thrills to saintly stories of the dying
St. Peter of Verona writing
Credo in Deum in his own spilled blood and of
St. Isaac Jogues, already mutilated by torture, pleading to return to Canada to his martyrdom … just as that same spirit tends to shrink back at the idea of a priest carrying a concealed weapon.
That said, we cannot presume to judge any priest who chooses to legally carry a concealed weapon. We can only trust that he has considered the matter carefully, is following any guidance given by his bishop, and is doing what he believes to be in the best interest of himself and others.
