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Poll: Cuomo's Approval Rating Slides Amid Passage Of Sweeping Gun Control Reform

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo's push for the strictest gun laws in the nation may have cost him some political points, a new poll from Quinnipiac University has found.

The poll, released Wednesday, shows the Democratic governor's popularity plummeted among Republicans, independents and voters of his own party.

"Fifty-nine to 28 job approval...well, that's not a bad number you know - 59-28, that's the kind of number a lot of politicians would kill for. But, a month ago, it was 74 to 13. So on each end of it, 15 points on positive, 15 points on negative, he has gone down," Quinnipiac University polling director Maurice Carroll told WCBS 880.

Carroll said the new gun control policy, which was signed into law earlier this month, may not be the only factor that triggered the approval ratings slide.

"An awful lot of it is due to gun control, his big push to put through a comprehensive gun control program. Although, he also meandered through the liberal landscape in his State of the State speech and it's possible that some of that also produced negatives," Carroll said.

Cuomo responded to the polling data, saying that tough decisions on issues such as gun control are sometimes met with negative feedback at first before becoming popular.

"Politicians have stayed away from this issue for a very long period of time because it is sensitive. Do I think it gets better when people realized there was no slippery slope and this wasn't really an attempt to take legitimate guns or control legitimate guns? Yes. But is that going to change the basic dynamic? Not at all," Cuomo said.

New York became the first state to pass comprehensive gun control reform legislation since the Newtown, Conn. elementary school massacre.

That shooting spree put the issue of gun control back under the microscope.

"I'm proud of the votes of the legislature. I sent them a letter that I wrote after thinking about it a lot over the past few days. It was a tough vote, it was a gutsy vote, it was clearly the right thing. I believe it will be one of the best things these legislators have done in their career. I believe it will save lives," Cuomo said.

In Quinnipiac's December poll, Cuomo's approval rating of 74 percent was his all-time high.

Quinnipiac questioned 1,127 voters from last Wednesday to Sunday. The poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

What do you think of Cuomo's job as governor? Sound off in the comments section below...

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