There are a couple of ways to look at this.
Defensive guns are lifesaving tools, and should be cared for accordingly. Cleaning gives you a chance to examine them and check to make sure nothing is wrong with them. It is unreasonable to neglect an important machine and expect it to function well when you need it.
However comma there is a lot of belief about cleaning guns that has ballooned into superstition. That if your gun isn't surgically clean, it will fail. Decades ago, the military used corrosive primers. If you used this ammunition, and failed to clean the bore, it would start to pit very quickly. This is where a lot of the "Clean it every time you shoot it" religion comes from.
Do you REALLY want to trust your life to a tool that is at risk of failure if it is a tiny bit dirty?
I know a 3-gun shooter who has shot thousands of rounds through his main carbine, he has literally lost count, and it still runs. He has NEVER cleaned it. Keep the bolt sloppy wet, it will run. Any of the modern polymer-frame auto pistols should run fine for a long time with little to no maintenence.