Control guns and raise the minimum wage.  That’s how N.J. voters feel about two current issues.

Oh, and it will take one to three years before the state gets back to normal following Superstorm Sandy.

Those are some of the sentiments measured in a Quinnipiac University poll issued this morning.

Guns

By wide margins, New Jersey voters favor a broad range of gun-control measures and by a smaller 50 – 38 percent margin say that private gun ownership puts people at risk rather than protects them from crime, according to the poll.

Here is a sampling of the breakdown on the issue in the wake of the horrific shootings last year at a Connecticut school.

• 58 percent want stricter gun laws in the state, with 8 percent calling for less strict laws and 29 percent saying keep the current laws;
• Favor 70 – 26 percent a nationwide ban on high-capacity magazines;
• Favor 69 – 27 percent a nationwide ban on assault weapons;
• Favor 96 – 3 percent requiring background checks for gun purchases at gun shows;
• Favor 78 – 20 percent a federal database to track all gun sales;
• Favor 92 – 5 percent preventing people with mental illness from buying guns;
• Favor 50 – 44 percent placing armed police in public schools.

“On a series of gun-control questions – background checks for gun buyers, nationwide bans on assault weapons and big bullet magazines – New Jersey gives clear support,” Institute Director Maurice Carroll said in a release.

Pay

Voters support 82 – 16 percent, including 67 – 30 percent among Republicans, raising the minimum wage from $7.25, the poll finds.

It also shows that 32 percent want to increase it to $8.25 per hour.  Another 45 percent want to increase the minimum wage to more than $8.25 per hour.

Poll respondents rejected one of the warnings of wage hike opponents. Voters reject 55 – 40 percent the argument that small businesses will reduce hiring if the minimum wage is increased. 

“New Jerseyans are in a generous mood when it comes to raising the minimum wage, with overwhelming support for an increase, even among Republicans,” Carroll said.

Sandy

Forty-three percent of voters say it will be one to three years before things get back to normal as a result of the storm, while 36 percent expect recovery to take three to five years, with 10 percent expecting recovery to take more than five years, according to the poll.  Another 4 percent expect things to be back to normal in under a year while 5 percent say “never.”

From Jan. 15 – 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,647 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points.  Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.