A disquieting report from the NYT:

After the Orlando nightclub massacre and a string of other mass shootings, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Covington & Burling; Arnold & Porter; and four other prominent law firms formed a coalition with gun control groups that until now have worked largely on their own. Together, the firms are committing tens of millions of dollars in free legal services from top corporate lawyers who typically bill clients $1,000 an hour or more. …

Rather than fighting the political headwinds, the coalition is focusing on courts and state regulatory agencies, among the few places where they might still gain some traction. The coalition is drafting lawsuits and preparing regulatory complaints that could be announced as soon as next month, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, one of the nonprofit advocacy groups that helped form the coalition, along with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brennan Center for Justice, a legal think tank at New York University School of Law.

On one front, the coalition will seek to overturn state laws that have gone largely unchallenged, including new policies that force businesses to allow guns to be carried on their property. The group also plans to mount the first formal challenges to congressional restrictions on publishing government data on gun violence. …

“This coalition brings together more resources, more brainpower and more lawyers dedicated to making our clients and our nation safer,” said Charlie Lifland, the O’Melveny & Myers partner leading the firm’s work with the coalition. …

Richard M. Alexander, the chairman of Arnold & Porter, called the coalition an effective way of “addressing the worsening scourge of gun violence that plagues this country.”

Brad S. Karp, the chairman of Paul, Weiss, first alluded to the coalition in an email to colleagues just hours after the Orlando nightclub tragedy: “It is in our DNA to act when we see injustice,” referring to the firm’s work on same-sex marriage. …

“With this new coalition, our bench just got deeper,” said Avery Gardiner, the Brady Center’s chief legal officer. …

The … coalition, which the groups named the Firearms Accountability Counsel Task Force … will continue to work around the edges of that law — challenging the relatively small number of gun dealers who account for most firearms used in crimes — but its strategy hinges on new lines of attack. Eric M. Ruben, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, which, unlike the gun control advocacy groups, is a legal research institute, spent more than a year looking for new legal strategies.

One fresh avenue of litigation would involve challenging state laws that arguably force citizens and local governments to allow guns to be carried on their properties, including schools, airports, shopping malls and bars. Such laws, the coalition argues, could infringe on property rights and threaten the safety of customers and employees.

Separately, the coalition is considering taking aim at Congress’s longtime restriction on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from releasing certain data about the use of firearms in crimes. The coalition might also challenge a congressional policy that effectively chokes off funding to government research on the potential public health threat of guns. …

The coalition is also examining lawsuits against the gun industry over possible antitrust violations. In the past, some gun companies joined forces, the coalition said, to curb efforts by competitors to develop safety technology, including firearms that will not go off unless held by their registered owners.