Poll finds disapproval of Obama's job performance, weakness on guns

More people disapprove than approve of President Obama's job performance in a new poll that also finds a minority of voters trust him on the issue of guns.

Forty-six percent of respondents to the new Quinnipiac poll disapprove of Obama's job performance, while 45 percent approve. 

That's just a 1-percentage-point shift since the last Quinnipiac poll, in early February, but it's the first time he's seen more of those surveyed view his job performance negatively since September of last year.

It's also another in a series of recent polls that have found Obama's approval ratings falling.

The public thinks even less of congressional Republicans — 71 percent disapprove of their job performance, compared to 20 percent that approve. Congressional Democrats don't fare much better; 32 percent approve their job performance compared to 60 percent who disapprove.

Obama is better-trusted than congressional Republicans on issues ranging from immigration to healthcare to the deficit, but the poll finds one interesting exception: gun policy.

Forty-four percent of those polled trust congressional Republicans to handle gun policy better, while 42 percent trust Obama. That's a slight shift in favor of Republicans since Quinnipiac last polled on gun policy, in early February, when slightly more of those polled said they trusted Obama on the issue. 

A slight majority, 51 percent, still support stricter gun control laws. But that's a decline since February and July, indicating public sentiment may be moving slowly against expanded gun control measures.

Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,944 registered voters nationwide from Feb. 27 through March 4, and the poll has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points.

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