Tricia Reiss

I grew up in New York City. I started my firearms journey in 2009 in upstate New York working as the pistol licensing clerk in the Hudson Valley. In 2011, I started an IDPA Chapter in Hudson, NY and ran weekly club matches for two years. In 2012 I founded the first ever Women's Concealed Carry Holster Fashion Show to bring women who were dominating the handgun industry into the world of firearms to educate them using the runway as a lure. I became an NRA Pistol instructor in 2011 and started a chapter of The Well Armed Woman that year. In 2016 I moved to God's country to escape the draconian gun laws of the Big Apple and landed in the Big Sky in southwest Montana where I currently work part-time as a firearms instructor. I began a new chapter of Armed Women of America in 2017 (previously TWAW). With a group of 70 members, I needed to recruit help, but no one was ready to assist as an instructor, so, I established a group of women shooters called the Montana Maggies who I have encouraged to become Rangse Safety Offices and some went on to become Firearms Instructors. They are all volunteers for Armed Women of America. They have been equipped with Emergency First Aid Courses, Advanced Shooting Courses and also, introduced them to IDPA/competitive shooting. I am blessed to have a very proficient Chapter Leader on my team now too, who happens to be a USCCA Training Counselor.

Since 2020 I have been meeting weekly with the Montana Maggies to train and grow these volunteer ladies.

My desire is to see no woman left unarmed, but rather to help them become confidently armed, responsible citizens with an emphasis on safety and skilled shooters.

Although I believe that credentials are merely paper proof of an accomplishment, not to be overlooked, I strongly feel that one must always continue to measure their own performance regularly and continue to learn as they teach others.

Instructor Certifications: NRA Basic Pistol, CCW, PPITH, PPOTH, Home Defense, CRSO USCCA - CCHDF - WHSDF Montana State Licensed Firearms Instructor The Well Armed Woman Chapter Leader Instructor -NY Armed Women of America Chapter Leader Instructor - MT Montana Tactical Firearms Instruction, Inc. Lead Female Instructor The Complete Combatant Deliberate Coaching Instructor

Partial List of Continuing Education (Multiple = 3 or more classes): Sig Academy (Multiple), Dark Angel (Bullets & Bandages), IDPA Safety Officer, Massad Ayoob MAG 40, Andrew Branca (Law of Self Defense), TWAW/AWA (Multiple), Gabby Franco (Private), Montana Tactical Firearms Instruction, (Multiple) Gunsite Academy (Multiple), Dave Spaulding Handgun Combatives (Kinetic), Mike Seeklander Instructor Development, Modern Samurai (Red Dot), Briran Hill (TCC), Defenders USA (Multiple), Warfighter Concepts (Multiple), Emergency First Aid and CPR - STB (Multiple and Regularly)