Strategy of a Gun Rights Group: Attack Online, Prevail in Court

In barely a decade, a Nevada-based group has emerged as a relentless gun rights litigant, challenging laws and regulations in at least 90 cases across 20 states.

The organization, the Firearms Policy Coalition, has battled state assault-weapons bans, defended a third grader’s right to wear a hat in school adorned with the image of a semiautomatic rifle, and challenged licensing age restrictions.

It’s also boosted membership, and its coffers, with a bombastic online campaign that regularly fires four-letter vulgarities at critics and opponents regardless of their political affiliation.

Its leader, Brandon Combs, is a California millennial who calls ...