Poll: On deficit, immigration, guns, public in sync with Obama

By Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto, and Fred Backus

As President Obama prepares to update Congress and Americans about his agenda at tonight's State of the Union address, a new CBS News poll shows he receives public support for many of his policies.

Americans favor a combination of spending cuts and taxes to tackle the deficit (59 percent); stricter guns laws (53 percent); drone strikes against suspected terrorists overseas (71 percent); a path to citizenship for immigrants brought to the U.S. as children (74 percent); and development of alternative energy sources (68 percent).

The Budget Deficit

While the economy and jobs are the top concern for Americans, the budget deficit comes in a distant second.

Fifty-nine percent of Americans favor a combination of taxes and spending cuts as the best way to reduce the deficit, while 32 percent favor only cutting federal spending.

Gun Policy

Views on changes to gun control laws are similar to last month, with 53 percent saying they should be made stricter, 10 percent saying they should be made less strict and 34 percent saying they should be kept as they are.

There continue to be differences along party lines on this issue, with most Republicans wanting gun laws to be kept as they are now (60 percent) and most Democrats wanting stricter gun laws (78 percent).

A majority of Americans - regardless of whether or not they want stricter gun laws - think it is at least somewhat likely that significant changes to gun policy will be made this year, but only 27 percent think that is very likely to happen. Thirty-two percent think it's not very likely or not at all likely to happen.

Americans overwhelmingly (91 percent) approve of universal background checks on all potential gun buyers. Smaller majorities also approve of two other proposals by the Obama Administration for curbing gun violence: a national ban on semi-automatic "assault" weapons (53 percent), and a national ban on high-capacity magazines (59 percent).

Gun owners support universal background checks (90 percent), but they oppose bans on semi-automatic weapons (64 percent) or high capacity magazine clips (57 percent).

Fifty-four percent of Americans think stricter gun laws would help deter gun violence at least somewhat, including 21 percent who think that would deter it a lot. Gun owners are far more skeptical than Americans who don't own a firearm.

But gun owners agree with Americans who don't own guns on two other measures to reduce gun violence that have recently been endorsed by the NRA: better mental health screening and treatment, and more police and armed security guards. Eighty-one percent of Americans think better mental health screening would help at least somewhat to reduce gun violence overall, and 75 percent think more police and armed security guards would help at least somewhat to curb mass shootings in public places such as schools, movie theaters, and malls.

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[hakori]

All you people get worked up over imaginary foes. Why don't you focus your interest on something that is real?

[highlndr55]

The public wants the economic picture FIXED. Obama does not know how to fix it. All he knows is how to raise taxes and spend money we DO NOT HAVE. He is screwing every group that voted for him. Obama Care, just a bunch of taxes. The pre-existing condition fund is already bankrupt. Gas prices - highest they have ever been. Sequestration - his IDEA! All of his GREAT IDEAs are costing the Middle Class, excuse me - everyone, money at every turn. When will the Dems and supposedly major media wise up?????

[Augy-Doggie]

CBS News and their polls are laughable since their reputation for propping up Obama preceeds them.
Is everyone who works for CBC News a left wing Obama shill and hack all the way from the Manager, editors, Journalists, reporters down to the biased idiots who supposedly manage this comment site?
It's fun to come here for the laughs.

[PSOPO]

The American Public are smarter then both political parties think.

[dojowens]

IS smarter not are smarter.

[StandUp4YourRights]

"53 percent saying they should be made stricter, 10 percent saying they should be made less strict and 34 percent saying they should be kept as they are."

Well you can take 10% and the 34% and add those up. Now that 54% for us gun owners. Guess people don't side with Obama. What joke. I keep seeing all these poll results but never the poll. I search for this stuff daily and never see the actual poll. I am calling ********.

[RickB2400]

Times must have changed the math system. When I went to school, 10 + 34 = 44. With that said, I agree with you. I don't believe the "polls". Nobody has ever asked me or anyone I know any questions in a poll.

[Rob2366]

I don't think as many people in this country are as "in sync" as these polls suggest. I would love to actually see how the questions were worded. If you ask people if they want gun reform many will say yes, when you ask the same people if we should take away the right to own semi-auto weapons that same group will shift dramatically if it's an average sample. How about we actually enforce some of the 23,000+ gun laws in this country. As for the deficit, Obama has been lying for 4 years about cutting it. He has spent more than all other Presidents combined, and yes, that includes Bush and his part in the 2 wars, of which Obama has yet to get us completely out of. Our Health Care Options have been dramatically narrowed, and I don't know about the rest of you, but has anybody seen the 25% decrees in premiums yet,? mine have gone up. Now we have immigration, and the "DREAM ACT". I am sorry these people who have come here illegally feel, I don't know, hunted, persecuted, second class person, but they are criminals. And their children who were born here, the anchor baby situation, how many here who have "American Born" children have even tried to become citizens? How many take advantage of the system, get social welfare programs because their children are eligible take the money yet don't actually contribute to the system or even try to integrate? All the while the President trying to make them citizens WITHOUT trying to actually secure our borders. Now tonight he will talk Cap-n-Trade. Just another way to get his green agenda pushed through and a way to shuffle more money to company cronies like GE all the while those increases in our power rates the "average" American will bear the brunt of that. Obama is a LIAR, A LEFTIST, and in the end will go down as the WORST PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

[hakori]

You're just an angry person who seems to hate everything. Can't you just be miserabla alone?

[tsigili]

48-49% of the public are OUT of sync with Obama. Obama has NO mandate for his policies, whatsoever.

[kurn3]

So true. I was never 'polled' on any of this! The 'poll' was the election and Obama barely won. This is no 'Public Support'.

[ammo17]

why do the democrats want not to use the correct english with the words "illegal aliens" and at the same time they use the words"illegal guns".lets use the phrase undocumented illegals and undocumented guns.