As we continue to increase output and upgrade the Quality of our products, we’ve again gone outside for additional experienced, proven, vetted assistance. This month we are happy to announce the addition of Darrell Bishop to our staff of professionals. Darrell comes to us directly from Wilson Combat where he was their Custom Shop Manager for almost three years. I think that reputation should speak for itself.

If you haven’t noticed yet, we have the cover of the "American Handgunner" magazine January/February issue, the one that is out now. It’s a three gun spread about the Escort, the Tactical, and the TargetMaster with the TargetMaster as the centerfold. The article was done by that magazines’ editor himself, Roy Huntington. Mr. Huntington also did a pod cast (I think they’re called) on all three.

You can hook up to that at www.americanhandgunner.com . View the Web Blast Video to watch a professional at work.

Some of you have asked for some advance notice when we think we may have product featured in magazines, on covers, or in web and pod casts. While I can’t guide you with any certainty, I can tell you that we have thirteen guns out right now to eight different writers for nine different venues. Some should come out before the SHOT Show, some later. The guns that are out are the Texican, USPSA Single Stack, Legend, Legacy, Spartan, Guardian, Escort, TargetMaster, and Tactical.

Well, the year is almost over. All that really means to us is that we are probably behind in preparing for next years exhibitions. Early on in 2008 we’ll, obviously, be at the SHOT Show, the IWA exhibit, and a couple of Buyers Group "show & tells". The booth numbers are at the bottom of the page; come see us! Remember, in addition to our normal display of popular firearms we will also be introducing the "Rogue", the "SteelMaster", and the "Off Duty". We’ll also be re-introducing the "Legacy" with its new finish, the "V.I.P." in two different varieties, and you can expect to see new barrel lengths and calibers in the "Texican". The folks in the back have also warned me that they may have a surprise or two for us as the show season unfolds.

One more gun change that you can expect to see by SHOT: We appear to have overlapping Trademark applications filed for the gun that we chose to call the "Sentinel". Our overlap is with a respected peer and, while our application has the earlier filing date, we recognize that he has used the name prior to either party’s filings this year. That being the case, we are withdrawing our application and the product from the market. I suspect that its’ replacement may be one of the "surprises" that our "back room artists" are warning me about.

Staying on the subject of the shows for a moment, you know how busy we get at all of them. (Maybe a little busier at SHOT this year in as much as we are going to be located a great deal nearer the front of the exhibition hall than in previous years.) The only point here is: If you’re going to need "sit down" time with myself, Pauletta, Don, Chris, Jay, or any other of your normal contacts, the sooner you make your appointment the more assured you can be that you’ll get the time slot that best fits your schedule. First timers that we’ll have there will be Darrell and The Rabbit. Even if you don’t have business to conduct, come say "Hi" and fondle the new products. As usual, we’ll have at least one "SHOT Show Special" (that will carry over into the Buyers Groups) available with which to suck you into the STI fold.

For IWA, your contact will still be Pauletta. Jay and I will again be pulling escort duty but, if you want any intelligent responses, give her a call.

Actually, I’m just back from the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) show. This show isn’t one that normally yields that much benefit to STI but I was pleasantly surprised this year to meet the principals behind "Taylor & Co. Inc." (www.taylorsfirearms.com), the folks who service the Cowboy shooters market. I think we may persuade them to take on our "Texican" line. Their website may seem a little slim but their catalog is phenomenal.

You guys may want to pass the word to your customer bases. While this will be the first "SkinnErgram" that goes out to the "general populace", it is our intent to make them immediately available to anybody who wants to know what’s going on with STI as soon as STI and you know it. Toward that end, we’ve provided a sign up link on the Home page of our website. This is a place where anyone can "opt in" and receive any announcements as they happen. They can, obviously, "opt out" at any time and we’ll not use their address for any other purpose.

I believe that I announced our Holiday schedule a couple of months ago, but here’s a reminder for you Domestics and Internationals alike. The very last day that we will be shipping in 2007 will be December 21st. Last date of shipment for which you can be fairly assured of receiving your product in 2007 would probably be 12/14.

As I’ve communicated to most of you, part of our goal for 2008 is to maintain an inventory of the newer and slower moving firearms, i.e. those that it doesn’t warrant you maintaining an inventory of a dozen or more. As I’ve indicated to you, too, the onus for maintaining an inventory of the rapid moving items is still on you. Some of you have part of your 2008 stocking orders in already and that’s good. Some of you don’t! Don’t let yourself be put in the position of having a customer standing in front of you wanting an Edge or a Trojan or a Tactical or something similar and lose the sale because you didn’t have it in stock. One of your peers probably will! (That’s my subtle way of hinting that it’s time to start getting your stocking orders in place here.)

I’ve had this conversation with several of you already, too. With the exception of the Spartan (discussed below), we don’t expect to be changing Distributor and Retail prices very much at all for 2008. We are, however, phasing out our "Preferred Dealer" and "Range" programs. In their place for next year we’ll be phasing in a tiered (priced by volume) Dealer price structure. We’re not yet ready to publish the formal price list because of the new and re-launched guns, but your contact here can give you the "broad brush" explanation if you are interested.

We’ve worked very hard with our partner who assembles the Spartan and received marvelous cooperation. That $11.00, at Distributor, bump that I mentioned last time will happen for all new orders and will be accounted for in the new, tiered, Dealer prices. It looks like any additional bump can be postponed until about July of next year.

We are still waiting for BATF approval for the import of the GP6, the DA/SA polymer pistol that is being made for us in Slovakia. Reports from those of our European Distributors who have them now are very favorable. Our apologies to our U.S., Asian, and other partners for the delay. It just seems that nothing moves quickly in a bureaucracy.

Update on Massachusetts: Their approval committee will be meeting about mid-December to decide which STI guns will be eligible for sale there. We’ll keep you posted.

Our stance on California sales stirred a lot more emotional outpouring than we anticipated. We thank those of you who have offered your support and fully understand the position of those who disagree with us. With no intent to make light of a very serious situation, but with a need to fill this page, one of our inside guys has passed on a suggestion for another new product. He thinks we should go ahead and list a new gun on the CA DOJ list named the "CA Liberal". He seems to feel that many folks would want to shoot one.

SHOT Show Booth # 1975 IWA Booth # 3-136

Do good. Sell a bunch. Have fun. Not necessarily in that order!