(GunsSaveLife.com) – Congratulations to our U.S. Olympic Shooting Team!

It is appalling how little airplay the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team received during NBC’s coverage of the London Olympic Games earlier this summer.

Gabby Douglas.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The media gushed over our men’s and women’s swimmers (and they were outstan

“Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor made beach volleyball history today as the first women to earn three consecutive gold medals,” read the front-page coverage of America’s Golden Girls in beach volleyball.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images.

ding), along with our track and field athletes, and gymnasts (you’ve got to love Gabby Douglas) who made America proud.

Millions saw gold-medal performances in a host of events ranging from wrestling to basketball.

Then there was America’s golden couple of beach volleyball, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, who were featured in multiple days of coverage as they trounced all comers.  The duo had never lost a game in three trips to the Olympics and in fact, had only lost one set that entire time.

It was a delight to watch their professionalism and phenomenal talent in the sand.  Tens of millions tuned in to see them win the gold medal match for their third consecutive Olympics as a pair playing together, a truly remarkable feat.

How many of you saw endless discussions and gushing over Kim Rhode?

“Kim who?” most folks outside of shooting ask.

You know, Kim Rhode.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” 99.44% of Americans say.

Kim Rhode won Olympic gold in women’s skeet for the fifth consecutive Olympic games.  She set a new Olympic record and tied a world record this time out.

How much prime-time coverage did she get on NBC?

Is she a household name in America much the same way Michael Phelps or Gabby Douglas are?

Hardly.  And it’s a shame.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation made an effort to publicly recognize our U.S. Shooting Team for bringing home three gold medals and a bronze by taking out a full-page, full-color ad in the incredibly shrinking (both in circulation and physical size) USA Today.

They recognized America’s Shooting Team and those members who won medals this year.

Vincent Hancock.
Rebecca Blackwell / AP

Vincent Hancock won a Gold Medal in Men’s Skeet, becoming the first men’s skeet shooter to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals.  He “only” set two Olympic records this year.  Any prime coverage from NBC?  Yeah, it is pretty boring watching him smoke bird after bird after bird.

Kim Rhode.
Neil Leifer/Courtesy of the Today Show/NBC.

We already mentioned Kim Rhode who brought home yet another gold medal in women’s skeet.  Again, boring watching her dust bird after bird.  And when she misses (which happened exactly once in the gold-medal round), there was no fiery car crash.

Jamie Gray.
Outdoor Hub.com

Jamie Gray captured the Gold Medal in the women’s 50m 3-position rifle.  She too “only” set two new Olympic records in both the final and qualification rounds of the event.  “Only” two records.

“Jamie who?” most non-shooting folks would say.

Matt Emmons gets a nod for bringing home a Bronze Medal, in the men’s 50m 3-position rifle, complimenting gold and silver medals he won in previous Olympics.

We at Guns Save Life join NSSF in saluting these outstanding Americans who excelled in their sport and represented America with distinction at this year’s Olympics, despite a paucity of coverage from NBC and the American mainstream media.

For a .pdf of the advertisement seen in USA Today, click here.

God bless America’s entire Olympic Team – and the USA.