Attorney Mark W. Smith of The Four Boxes Diner says the quiet part out loud: Ninth Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke isn’t just on the shortlist for a future Supreme Court pick – he’s a hands-on gun guy with receipts.
Smith frames it as “major breaking news” coming out of the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention.
His point is simple. VanDyke isn’t theorizing about firearms from a distance. He competes, he trains, and he believes judges should actually understand the tools they’re regulating.
That’s rare on the federal bench, and it matters in Second Amendment cases.
“Judges Should Know Guns,” Says VanDyke
In clips played by Mark W. Smith, Judge Lawrence VanDyke explains why he shoots with law students after campus talks.
He says hands-on experience demystifies the Second Amendment. Without it, guns become abstractions.
He draws an analogy to the First Amendment. It would be odd to decide free-speech cases if you’d never thought about speech. Same with free exercise and religion.
With firearms, he argues, familiarity helps judges assess real-world claims instead of repeating myths. That tracks with what we’ve seen post-Bruen: details matter.
I think VanDyke’s right. Judges constantly weigh “common use,” “dangerous and unusual,” and “features” arguments. If you’ve never run a stage, cleared a malfunction, or shot on a timer, those lines can blur.
From Montana to Harvard – And a Permit in Boston
VanDyke gives a quick origin story.
He grew up in Montana, hunting elk and pronghorn and eating wild game with his family. Firearms were normal tools.
Later, he moved to Harvard Law School and discovered Boston required a carry permit just to keep the firearms he already owned. He got one, his first, and he’s had permits ever since.
Mark W. Smith underscores the biography because it informs the jurisprudence. This is a judge raised around rifles, later trained in elite legal circles, who never dropped the practical side. That blend is unusual in federal appellate courts.
And it shows. VanDyke’s opinions and dissents read like someone who knows how a gun actually works.
Competitive Shooting as Judicial Homework
VanDyke admits he fell down the gear rabbit hole.
A Federalist Society lunch in Dallas piqued his interest when two attendees described dynamic “tactical” stage shooting. His wife and mom later gifted him a SIG 556 – the doorway to shooting sports.
He started with IDPA (concealment garments, use of cover, defensive scenarios). Then he moved to USPSA (faster pace, race-gun setups, scoring that blends speed and accuracy).
Lately, he’s deep into Tactical Games, which he jokes is CrossFit meets marksmanship – sandbags, sprints, and tiny targets while gassed. He even mentioned shooting the Tactical Games Nationals in Austin.
VanDyke’s takeaway is candid. You’ll be terrible for the first 10 matches. But if you carry for self-defense, competition pressure helps. The timer and movement reveal holes you don’t see on a static lane.
That’s a strong, practical statement from an Article III judge: competition sharpens defensive skills.
Why the Social Side Matters
VanDyke also talks about humility.
He says judges can get insulated – surrounded by clerks and colleagues who say “you’re awesome” all day. That’s not healthy.
Two things keep him grounded: church and shooting. Church treats him like a regular person. Matches force him to stand around, reset stages, and “chew the fat” with normal folks for an hour between 60-second runs.
Smith highlights this because it fights the stereotype. The caricature of a cloistered judge fades when you see someone taping targets in dusty bays on Saturdays.
My read: this isn’t fluff. Judges who stay connected to ordinary communities tend to read record facts and legislative “findings” with more skepticism. That matters in gun cases loaded with technobabble and sweeping safety claims.
The Famous Duncan Dissent – and a Teaching Moment
Smith reminds viewers of VanDyke’s now-famous Duncan v. Bonta dissent.
In that Ninth Circuit fight over California’s magazine ban, VanDyke recorded a video in chambers in front of a field-stripped AK. He walked through parts and function to show colleagues why their reasoning didn’t fit mechanical reality.
He says you don’t have to be a gun expert to see some arguments are absurd. But it helps to demonstrate why.
Mark W. Smith calls this exactly the kind of judge gun owners say they want: one who treats facts like facts, not vibes.
And that’s why Smith insists VanDyke is a top contender for an opening on the Supreme Court if President Trump names another justice.
Favorite Guns – and a Desert Eagle Elk
There were fun moments, too.
VanDyke runs a SIG P320 in competition, and he’s branching into a SIG-pattern 2011. His AR-style rifles include an FN competition rig and a Sons of Liberty build. He started, like many, with a Glock.
He jokes that choosing a favorite gun is like picking a favorite child. But he does call out his Desert Eagle.
As a young man, after saving between college and law school, he bought the big pistol thanks to action-movie lore. On a Montana hunt, he says he dropped an elk at 180 yards with it – a fluke he laughs about but can’t bring himself to part with. Family heirloom now.
And that AK on the wall in his chamber? He says it’s the people’s AK – a GSA loaner provided as décor for federal judges. A running gag at this point.
These anecdotes aren’t just color. They show a judge who lives the culture his court writes about. That resonance matters to millions of gun owners who feel misread by the legal system.
Why This Could Shape the Court
Smith’s broader argument is strategic.
He notes VanDyke’s credibility inside the conservative legal world, his membership in the Supreme Court Bar, and his status as a regular dissenter against anti-gun Ninth Circuit majorities.
If Trump seeks a justice aligned with Bruen’s text-and-history test and grounded in real-world gun knowledge, VanDyke checks boxes that go beyond ideology. He offers fluency.
From my perspective, a justice who can translate the mechanics of common arms into doctrinal terms is uniquely positioned to resolve the next wave: magazine limits, “assault-weapon” features lists, suppressor rules, and SBR classifications.
Those cases will turn on whether courts accept technical assertions or demand hard evidence tied to history. VanDyke’s record suggests he’ll insist on the latter.
The Optics – and the Pushback
Let’s be honest. A judge who competes with rifles and pistols will spark criticism.
You’ll hear claims of “bias” or “gun culture” creeping into opinions. But as Smith points out, nobody blinks when judges give speeches about free speech or religious liberty.
VanDyke’s view is that understanding isn’t bias. It’s competence. The Founders were conversant with firearms; modern judges should strive for at least a working literacy.
Mark W. Smith’s message to his audience is clear.
There’s a real chance the next Republican Supreme Court pick could be someone who shoots, trains, and has already gone to bat – publicly – for a strict reading of the Second Amendment.
If that happens, the Court’s center of gravity in gun cases could solidify around Bruen rather than drift back toward “interest balancing.”
And that would ripple through lower courts currently experimenting with “dangerous/unusual” spin-offs and feature-based bans.
Mark W. Smith says Judge Lawrence VanDyke is a front-runner for the next Trump Supreme Court pick – and “a huge gun guy.”
Lawrence VanDyke says judges should know firearms, not as curiosities, but as tools Americans actually use.
Together, their conversation offers a preview of the next phase of Second Amendment jurisprudence: fewer abstractions, more reality; fewer myths, more mechanics.
If the White House wants a justice who can speak Bruen in plain English – and run a stage between oral arguments – VanDyke looks like the mold.
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Image Credit: Survival World
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The article Front-Runner for Trump’s SCOTUS Pick Is Big on Gun Rights first appeared on Survival World.
A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.
