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Legal battle brews over 3D-printed guns, Brian Dawkins heads to Hall of Fame | Morning Newsletter

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A plastic pistol that was completely made on a 3D-printer at a home in Austin, Texas.
A plastic pistol that was completely made on a 3D-printer at a home in Austin, Texas.Read more(Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

I have to admit, this feels surreal: a Texas nonprofit wants to give anyone access to files for creating a 3D-printed, untraceable gun, potentially including people who are not legally permitted to have one. They're not available in Pennsylvania right now, but there's a heated national legal battle brewing over the files. In very happy news, Philly's favorite safety, Brian Dawkins, is heading to the Hall of Fame this weekend. To honor the legend, we're taking a look back at his career, his departure from the Eagles, and the wonderful woman supporting him every step of the way.

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— Aubrey Nagle (@aubsn, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

» READ MORE: No 3D gun plans in Pennsylvania, company agrees – for now

A Texas nonprofit spent years fighting to publish plans for 3D-printed firearms online for anyone to download. Thanks to a recent Trump administration settlement ending a years-long ban, now they have.

Over the weekend, 1,000 people nationwide downloaded files to 3D print an untrackable AR-15 semiautomatic rifle.

But they're not available in Pennsylvania — for now. An emergency hearing in federal court Sunday made sure of that, and the state joined nine others in a lawsuit against the nonprofit Monday. But the nonprofit says it will challenge any permanent ban.

» READ MORE: Fan favorite former Eagle Brian Dawkins enters Hall of Fame

This weekend, former Eagles star Brian Dawkins will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. It's another feather in the cap of an illustrious career, one that saw the nine-time Pro Bowl safety become a fan favorite who truly embraced Philadelphia.

And in case you're wondering, B-Dawk harbors no ill will about his abrupt exit from Philly in 2009. He's even bringing the man responsible for his departure to the ceremony. His wife Connie, who once helped save his life when he contemplated ending it, will also be by his side.

Are you headed to the Hall of Fame ceremony? Keep an eye out for some stellar Super Bowl LII memorabilia.

» READ MORE: Pa., N.J. suspend tens of thousands of driver’s licenses a year for unpaid court costs. Is that constitutional?

No one likes getting a parking ticket. But for some alleged offenders, citations for low-level offenses can spiral into driver's license suspensions. That's because if you fail to show up in court or pay the costs, the court tacks on more penalties.

This happens to tens of thousands of drivers each year in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and it's a system that advocates and some public officials say unfairly punishes the poor.

A federal court in Tennessee recently declared a similar system unconstitutional. Could a new bill upend the law in Pennsylvania?

What you need to know today

  1. Pennsylvania lawmakers are sponsoring a bill to help wireless companies install 5G antennas on publicly controlled rights of way. Many local towns are not pleased with the interference.

  2. Sports betting in Atlantic City is heating up as the NFL preseason inches closer. Bally's just joined Ocean Resort and the Borgata in accepting sports bets.

  3. Good news for air travelers: new baggage scanners, similar to those used in hospitals, are coming to PHL and could save us all lots of time in the TSA line.

  4. Five years ago, George Hadley spotted a lost family heirloom — a bronze cast of Rodin's famous sculpture "The Kiss" — on an auction website. The South Jersey woman who posted it was just sentenced to one day in prison.

  5. Sentencing for the first defendant in the fraternity hazing death of Penn State student Tim Piazza is scheduled for today. The Pennsylvania Attorney General's office is seeking three months of jail time.

  6. A local cardiologist just took a dive into recent scientific studies to find out what environmental hazards are doing to our bodies and found fast food is the biggest danger.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

If that door could talk, what would it say, @kylehuff?

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we'll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!

That’s Interesting

  1. Since the launch of our question-and-answer forum, Curious Philly (where you can ask our journalists your burning questions), quite a few readers have wondered how Suburban Station got its name. The answer is simple (it ran trains to the suburbs) but the station's history is much more complex.

  2. The Philly skyline is changing once again. The Aramark Corp. logo at 11th and Market is coming down this week.

  3. Foodie alert: Camden native and The Next Food Network Star winner Aaron McCargo Jr. is bringing his brand of creative cuisine to his hometown's first beer garden.

  4. My colleague Cassie Owens is stylish from head to toe, but her earring collection is legendary. Any fashion lover will enjoy her essay on the long-held passion, which once claimed her childhood savings.

  5. If Philadelphia is a city of winners (and of course it is) then the city's first professional video gaming team (yes, there's a whole league for that) will fit right in. They just came in second in the league's first championship and helped fill an arena.

  6. While their peers were off enjoying the summer sun, June 15 marked the beginning of another frenzied (and we mean frenzied) recruiting period for high school basketball players. Three local stars say their phones haven't stopped ringing since. 

Opinions

"It doesn't require my 25 years of experience in law enforcement to know how dangerous firearms in the wrong hands can be. Downloadable guns undermine our federal and state gun-violence prevention laws, which help prevent people who pose a danger to themselves or others from accessing firearms." — Paul Penzone, sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., on the State Department decision to allow a company to sell downloadable gun blueprints online.

  1. Columnist Ronnie Polaneczky has a rare good-news story about the Philadelphia Parking Authority: the oft-maligned organization stepped up to help two friends kicked out of a cab for being gay, she writes.

  2. As differences between liberalism and conservatism continue to dominate American politics, Daniel Pipes, president of the Middle East Forum in Center City, looks to conservatism's hidden history for a way forward.

What we’re reading

  1. If you haven't yet listened to The War On Drugs, the local Grammy-winning rock export too few have heard of, Philadelphia Magazine's profile on frontman Adam Granduciel will get you hooked.

  2. Junior Barbering Academy in North Philadelphia is teaching kids as young as seven a new skill— one that could turn into a career. But, as WHYY reports, for mentor P. Michael Boone it's about way more than cutting hair. 

  3. Philly's anti-ICE protests are part of a national conversation. BuzzFeed News' report on how the phrase "abolish ICE" went from a Twitter rallying cry to a political litmus test provides some wider context on the movement.

  4. Without a doubt, the demographics of the U.S., from age to race to gender, are changing. Vox's in-depth look at why these changes are dramatically cleaving national politics is a captivating long read. Make time for it today.

Your Daily Dose of | Gin

…and vermouth, and mezcal, and whiskey. Restaurant critic Craig LaBan has been testing the city's tastiest summer cocktails and has some colorful recommendations.