State v. Beasley

We affirm the court of appeals because the undisputed facts as found by the trial court and recited in this decision establish conclusively the affirmative defense that the gun was lawfully being transported in a motor vehicle for a lawful purpose, not on the actor’s person, but in a closed case.4

This being an affirmative defense, it is a logical truism that the General Assembly intended it to operate notwithstanding that the firearm is both concealed and also “ready at hand.”

The trial court reasoned erroneously that the affirmative defense was not established because the state had proved the…