Majority of Americans Support Stronger Gun Laws, Immigration Reform

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that a majority of Americans support two of President Obama’s top legislative priorities in his second term — gun safety and immigration reform.

A majority 55 percent say gun laws should be more strict, while only 9 percent want looser gun laws and 34 percent don’t want any changes.

On immigration, a majority 64 percent somewhat or strongly favor a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers, with 87 percent of Hispanics/Latinos strongly or somewhat favoring the proposal. Only 35 percent somewhat or strongly oppose a pathway to citizenship.

However, even though a majority of Americans back the president on gun safety and immigration, the approval ratings for President Obama himself dipped 3 points since February to 47 percent, while his disapproval rose 3 points from February to 48 percent, with 5 percent not sure. That’s the lowest approval rating since he was at 48 percent while on the campaign trail last August.

A majority 50 percent aren’ t satisfied with the job the president is doing of handling the economy, a 1-point drop from February, while 47 percent approve, a 3-point increase from February. In regards to the sequester, 58 percent of respondents say the automatic spending cuts have not had much of an impact on them and their families, but 47 percent believe the sequester will “mostly harm the economy,” a 3-point increase from March, while only 30 percent say the sequester won’t have an impact on the economy.

Photo: J Valas images via Flickr.com