Social Issues

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"I think the message out there is clear after [the Newton, Conn., school shootings] and to get us down this road as quickly as possible to basically eradicate assault weapons from our streets in New York as quickly as possible is something the people of our state want," said New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Rep. Steve Stockman (second from right), Texas Republican, participates in a mock swearing-in ceremony with Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, Ohio Republican, for the 113th Congress in Washington on Jan. 3, 2013. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Internet activist Aaron Swartz poses for a photo in Miami Beach, Fla., in 2009. He was found dead on Friday, Jan. 11, in his apartment in the Brooklyn borough of New York. On Saturday, Jan. 26, the hacker group Anonymous attacked a Justice Department website, claiming that an unjustified investigation by the federal government prompted him to commit suicide. (AP Photo/The New York Times, Michael Francis McElroy)

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Vials of flu vaccine are displayed at the Whittier Street Health Center in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013. Boston declared a public health emergency Wednesday as the city tried to deal with a harsh flu season and the state reported 18 flu-related deaths so far. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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Thousands of demonstrators, seen from the Eiffel Tower, gather on the Champs de Mars in Paris on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, to protest the French president's plan to legalize gay marriage. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)