Robert J. Cottrol (born January 18, 1949) is an American legal scholar and legal historian.

Cottrol holds a chair in the George Washington University (GWU) Law School and is also a professor of history and sociology at GWU. He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University, and his J.D. from Georgetown Law School. His research concentrates on race relations in U.S. legal history and criminal law contexts. He is the author of five books and dozens of book chapters, law review articles, book reviews, and other published works on slavery, gun control, and others topics. He is also the editor of Gun Control and the Constitution: Sources and Explorations on the Second Amendment.

Cottrol supports the use of background checks on firearms purchases, especially to prevent ownership by convicted felons. However, he argues that law-abiding citizens should have ready access to guns for self-defense. He says that minorities in particular need them to counter the threat of harsh treatment in racist cultures.