Ricky graduated from Murray State College with an Associates in Gunsmithing Technology in 2008. After graduation, he joined STI as a Production Gunsmith for the next five years.


In 2013, he was promoted to Head Gunsmith at STI, and then three years later was promoted to the Director of Training, Development, and Gunsmithing. In this role, he wrote and implemented a Standard Operating Procedure for firearms production and training protocol for each operation at STI, as well as established quality checks.


In 2018, Ricky moved to the Head Warranty Gunsmith and Armorers Course Instructor position at STI (now Staccato 2011, LLC). In this role, he has facilitated numerous Armorers Courses with well-renowned agencies, including the Riverside County and Police Department, San Francisco Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Randy Tweedy is a retired Deputy Sheriff with 25 years of service in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department—the largest sheriff’s department in the world. He spent 13 of those years as a full-time Firearms Instructor in the Department’s Weapons Training Unit.


Randy’s expertise includes training new Firearms Instructors, teaching Pistol-Mounted Optic courses, and developing new shooters, including Academy recruits. He has extensive experience across a broad range of weapons platforms, covering on-duty, off-duty, and backup firearms, concealed-carry instruction, and patrol rifle training.


He was part of the team responsible for testing and securing duty approval of the Staccato 2011 pistol for LASD.


Throughout his career, Randy has trained thousands of students from his own department as well as law enforcement agencies across the country.

Chris retired from the Phoenix PoliceDepartment in 2025 after 26 years of service. He workedin the Firearms Training Detail where he oversaw several programs, helped developed the modern practical firearms curriculum, and was a member of the departments Training Review Committee. They objectively reviewed all lethal force incidents with the goal of identifying training success and failure. He was also tasked with five others to author the departments current use of force policy.


From 2006 to 2019 he was a member of the Special Assignments Unit (SWAT) where he was a founding member and lead instructor of their modern breaching and high angle programs. After thousands of entriesand multiple lethal forceencounters, both successand failure have led to hardlessons learned. He has seen what surviving on luck alonelooks like on multiple occasions and that has forged his understanding of what is really needed to be successful prior to, during, and after a lethal use of force.


With those lessons learnedOfficer Palmer took a hard look at the trainingprovided to officers in his department and in conjunction with the Employee Assistance Unit rewrote the post critical incident training policies.Since 2021 he has interviewed and worked with over 100 officers involved in a lethal use of forceon his department. Those interactions have changed or reinforced the way the department trains.


Chris delivered the keynote address for the 2024 Texas Tactical Police Officers Association training conference and has spoken at several other conferences across the country on the topics of officer involved shootings as well as police culture, training, and expectations at executive conferences

Erik Wollin is a Deputy Sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that has been serving in the Departments Weapons Training Unit for the last 8 years. Prior to entering Law Enforcement, Erik served as a Paramilitary Contractor for various government agencies overseas. His military background includes service in both Conventional and Special Operations units.

Christian joined the United States Army as an Infantryman in 2017 shortly after graduating high school. He was stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas in April of 2018 and was immediately deployed to Iraq. Upon his return from deployment, he spent the rest of his service in the Army at Ft. Hood, Texas until being honorably discharged in April of 2021. 


At the end of 2021, his love for firearms and mechanical inclination drew him to apprentice at a small gun shop in Copperas Cove, Texas where he eventually became a full time Gunsmith. Looking for growth and opportunity, he started working for Staccato in September of 2023 as a Gun Assembler. He quickly mastered many functions of pistol assembly, and as a result of his efficiency and expertise, he was then promoted to the Finals Team where his primary role was to complete the final assembly of Staccato pistols and ensure that their functionality and appearance exceeded our Quality requirements.


In March of 2025, Christian’s performance caught the attention of the Law Enforcement Training Team, who were actively looking for a Gunsmith who was skilled in assembling, disassembling, and troubleshooting Staccato 2011 pistols to join their team as the next Armorers Course Instructor. To date, Christian has been to multiple different agencies across the country teaching Armorers Courses and conducting inspections on agency issued Staccatos to help ensure our Nation’s Law Enforcement community are equipped with high-performing duty weapons and the knowledge and skills to maintain those weapons.