The Washington Post is shocked that Americans believe gun ownership will protect them from becoming victims.

Amber Philips from WaPo wrote an article Monday where she revealed her surprise that a majority of Americans not only support gun rights, but also support Rick Perry's position that more people carrying guns could prevent a mass shooting like the one in Lafayette, Louisiana.

"With every major mass shooting in America, gun rights supporters seem to be digging in even further -- and bringing the rest of America along with them," wrote Philips with righteous indignation.

She referenced a 2014 Pew Research Poll that stated since the Newton, Conn. massacre there has been a near double-digit increase in the number of Americans who believe gun ownership could "protect people from becoming victims of crime."

The strongest gains in support has been with traditionally Democratic constituencies like blacks and women whose numbers rose by 25 and 11 points, respectively.

As Philips notes, this is the first time in two decades of Pew surveys that more Americans supported gun rights over gun control, further cementing the opinion that gun rights were the culture war that liberals lost.

"The National Rifle Association have long been taking advantage of the shift in public opinion to ensure no new gun restrictions pass Congress," Philips wrote. "Their well mobilized and politically active group of supporters is one of the reasons a post-Newtown universal background check bill failed in the Senate, despite overwhelming support in polls testing the specifics of the proposal."

Certainly the NRA has been able to fight against Congress passing universal background checks after the recent massacres. Even Democrat senators who support gun laws tend to reverse that position by the time they run for re-election, according to a 2014 research paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Philips wrote that on a somber note the recent shootings in Charleston, South Carolina and Lafayette will do nothing to move Congress to act in support of gun control.

"It's even clearer that gun laws likely won't change when you zoom out to Americans' overall feelings on guns; with every mass shooting, in fact, we seem to be embracing the idea of more guns rather than fewer," she wrote.

Yet and still Philips credits the NRA too much. Yes, they have been incredibly effective at lobbying Congress for their cause and have millions of due paying gun supporters to help them finance their activities, but their strength is a result of the culture, rather than the culture embracing their work.

It is impossible for a policy group like the NRA to move the opinion polls of the nation. If gun control were such a politically winning move, Democratic politicians in red and purple states would be leading the cause rather than sitting on the sidelines.