Professors/Duke University School of Law

Joseph Blocher

Lanty L. Smith '67 Distinguished Professor of Law

Constitutional LawSecond AmendmentFirst AmendmentProperty

Joseph Blocher is one of the leading Second Amendment scholars in the United States and co-founder and faculty director of Duke's Center for Firearms Law. He has published more than a hundred articles in leading law reviews and has been cited by the Supreme Court and nearly every federal court of appeals. He received Duke Law's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2012 and studied as both a Fulbright Scholar in Ghana and a Gates Scholar at Cambridge. His work spans gun rights, free speech, academic freedom, and the relationship between law and violence.

Teaching Style

Professor Blocher is a dynamic and accessible teacher who received Duke Law's Distinguished Teaching Award. He uses the Socratic method to help students navigate the complex intersection of constitutional text, history, and policy. He is known for presenting balanced perspectives on contested constitutional questions, particularly around gun regulation, and pushing students to engage with arguments on both sides of divisive issues.

Cold Call Tips

1Be thoroughly familiar with the Heller, McDonald, and Bruen decisions and their analytical frameworks
2Prepare to discuss how text, history, and tradition interact in Second Amendment analysis
3For First Amendment classes, be ready to draw analogies and distinctions between speech and arms rights
4Think carefully about the role of historical evidence in constitutional adjudication