Free Republic

Virginia Heffernan, Y! News: Thanks everyone for weighing in. These are crucial issues. I'll speak for myself: [snip] When I hear about violence, like in Newtown, I feel unsafe and worry that my kids are unsafe, but my mind doesn't go to arming myself or people at my son's school. It goes to the blind terror I feel around guns, especially in the hands of maniacs, but even when I see them on the hip of an NYPD cop. It goes to how lethal they are. And it goes to how I wish guns would disappear. So they and their...

Syracuse, NY -- An explosion in the basement of a private Islamic school has been ruled accidental, said Syracuse fire investigator Ken Heffernan. The Ihsan School of Excellence, on West Onondaga Street near the intersection with West Street, was evacuated Oct. 8 after the explosion sent a dust cloud and natural gas into the building, investigators said. The 75 children were safely removed from the school building, which has remained closed since. The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were contacted by investigators looking into the explosion because the West Onondaga Street school is considered a place...