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Published: Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 / Updated: Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013 01:39 PM

A president or a shepherd? You decide

The preamble of The United States Constitution begins with three simple words. Do you recall what they are?

When our forefathers gathered to begin construction of this great document — which not only helped to shape and define our government but to set our nation’s path through history — they began the Constitution with “We the People.” Today, however, I’m not sure those words still apply.

You see, for whatever reason, those in Washington tend to no longer believe in the people. They believe instead that it’s all about them and whichever side of our political spectrum that they represent.

The original idea was that those fortunate enough to be elected to serve in Washington would represent the very people that put them there but that’s no longer true. They apparently have this strange idea that they are there to represent a party and everything that takes place in the District of Columbia is nothing more than a game. It’s become a “my team must win” mentality and I can’t help but believe that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson would be rolling over in their graves if they only knew.

To prove my thoughts on this, one must look no further than the president’s current all-out war on guns. Despite the fact that our Constitution is quite clear on the rights of the people as it pertains to gun ownership, President Obama and his cronies from the left are once again on the attack using everything from the media to the unimaginable deaths of 20 children in Connecticut to further their party’s ridiculous, misguided agenda.

I’m sure that many of you just read that and immediately questioned me with thoughts such as, “Ridiculous? Misguided? Innocent lives were lost!” There’s no doubt that what took place in that elementary school was as heinous an act as one could ever imagine and not one right-minded person in this country feels any different about that.

Still, this happened because of the sick mind of a single individual who chose to take these innocent lives and, in return, place fear in the hearts of America. Not one of the pistols that he carried fired themselves.

Jumping on this bandwagon to trample our Constitution and outlaw ownership of specific firearms over the actions of a few nuts that appear from time to time, all because we’ve allowed them to frighten us, makes about as much sense as if President Gerald Ford had instructed us to kill every shark in the water after the movie “Jaws” scared the bikini off of every swimmer back in 1975. After all, there aren’t really that many shark attacks that take place each year.

I’m sure I could look it up somewhere but I have no idea exactly how many swimmers are gobbled up annually. It’s quite obvious to me that there aren’t that many, though.

I can, however, tell you exactly how many Americans lose their lives to pistols and rifles each year and it will probably shock you to see how small that number actually is in relation to the real problems that our country faces. Let’s take a look.

Did you know that, per the census of 2011, almost 312 million people live in the US now? Of those:

• 571,950 died from cancer in 2011. (American Cancer Society)

• 32,367 died in automobile accidents that same year (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

• Approximately 25,000 die annually from falls around the home. (National Safety Council)

• On average, 36,000 U.S. citizens die from the flu every year. (Center for Disease Control)

• In 2010 there were 6,009 deaths by pistol and 358 involving a rifle in the U.S. for a total of 6,367. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)

• In 2012 the total was 6,851. (CNN, 1/19/13)

Did you read those numbers closely? Go ahead. Take a minute and do it again.

To listen to our presidentm you would surely believe that the number of people that die by a shot from a rifle is at epidemic proportions and the mythical “assault rifle” is to blame. Yet, in reality, the number is fewer than 400 each year in a nation of 312 million where over 310 million firearms are privately owned!

That’s right. Fewer than 400 annual deaths by rifle and that’s ALL rifles- single shots, semi automatic, bolt action hunting rifles and the modern sporting rifles that the Left loves to call “assault rifles.”

This alone clearly proves that America’s so called “gun culture” is made up of some pretty responsible people. Far more responsible than, say, drivers of automobiles, right?

And 36,000 folks die from the flu every year? The flu! Uh, don’t we have vaccinations for that? I find it strange, then, that our president isn’t pushing for a law that requires everyone receive the shot. Surely that would save far more lives than those that are lost to bullets.

And, why hasn’t anyone noticed that our president is attempting to “pull the wool over our eyes” in his approach to this “Assault Weapons Ban” that he’s calling for in the wake of the Connecticut shootings?

After all, he marched children onto the stage as he signed a rash of executive orders and spoke of our desperate need for banning these rifles, all while no rifle was used in the shootings that took place up there.

If you weren’t paying attention or simply forgot due to the surrounding media hype, it was two pistols that were fired by the mad man. Yes, there was a rifle in his car trunk but it was never used in the shootings.

I also find it odd that Obama has placed very little attention on the fact that we’ve been down this road before. Could it be because the previous “Assault Weapons Ban” pushed forth under President Clinton in 1994 and that expired in 2004 accomplished little to nothing in regards to curbing such violent acts?

I’d be willing to bet that’s the case considering that the killings at Columbine took place while that ban was still in effect.

If we as a nation allow the game of politics to infringe on our rights and ultimately change the meaning of our Constitution, then I believe that another change to it is in order as well. Those first few words of the Preamble would have to be modified. Instead of “We the People” it should read “We the Sheep.”