By: Kayleigh Hamilton
No one expected a federal judge to do something like this.
He had just finished making a decision about a key gun case.
But now he is becoming famous for a different reason after a viral video.
Judge Lawrence VanDyke clearly knows a thing or two about guns, and that’s why he had no choice but to dissent from his colleagues in a recent gun case.
They upheld California’s large-capacity magazine ban, but VanDyke knew that they were wrong to do so.
In order to demonstrate the point he was trying to make, he decided to put together a video demonstrating exactly where their misunderstanding was about the guns in question.
People on the left were certainly not happy that he made this video, and they tried to say it was inappropriate for a judge.
But the video went viral, as the judge completely dismantled the arguments that were being made in favor of the ban on large-capacity magazines.
And this judge clearly showed that he is someone who is a friend of the gun community and can be trusted on hot-button Second Amendment cases that come in front of him.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “A federal appellate judge took the maxim ‘show, don’t tell’ to a new level Thursday in a novel dissent to a closely watched Second Amendment case.
“‘This is the first video like this that I’ve ever made,’ said Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke in a YouTube video he recorded, in his chambers, as the bespectacled jurist in his black robes handled a handgun and explained its mechanics and operation to the camera.”
VanDyke is very clearly someone who is seasoned in handling firearms and knows their different components.
That’s why he wasn’t going to let misinformation proliferate in the courtroom about an issue that he knew extremely well.
The article continues, “VanDyke, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Trump, linked to his video posted on YouTube in his dissent. The judge starts out sitting behind his desk in front of what appears to be an AK-style rifle mounted on the wall behind him.”
“VanDyke said he thought his video would be a helpful visual aid. He sought to demonstrate that magazines are like other key gun components, like grips and sites, that can be swapped out and make the weapon function.”
“The ‘wildly improper video presentation warrants additional comment, lest the genre proliferate,’ wrote Judge Marsha Berzon, a President Bill Clinton-appointed judge, in a concurring opinion.”
Berzon clearly did not like the video or think it should have ever been created, but Second Amendment supporters did not feel the same way.
There is nothing wrong with a judge like VanDyke pointing out basic facts that he thinks are being missed in the case due to ignorance.
That’s why he created the video and likely does not regret doing so.
Perhaps this will become a more common approach for judges, much to the chagrin of Marsha Berzon who thinks it is inappropriate.