Armed Women of America
Armed Women of America
Armed Women of America exists to enable women to be their own self-protectors,
creating freedom, peace of mind and confidence in themselves.
AWA Shooting Chapters educate, equip and empower women in a safe and non-threatening environment
for their effective and responsible self-defense with a firearm. Our goal is to create
Armed.Brave.Confident women who take firearms responsibility and safety very seriously.
Women of all ages are encouraged to attend; however, you must be 18 years of age to participate in the
live-fire portion of this program at MTFI. Bring your own firearm and ammunition. If you do not have a
handgun, you may rent one for only $10.00 with prior notice, and you can purchase ammunition at the
training center. (Cash only, please!)
MTFI is our host range and we provide a safe and comfortable environment for women to gather, learn,
train and discuss the issues important to women gun owners. We will discuss the benefits of becoming a
member of the Armed Women of America Southwest Montana Chapter and the details of how the
program works at your first meeting. There is no obligation and no fee for your first meeting.
If you choose to become an Armed Women of America member, the annual fee is $75.00.
You can sign up online at https://armedwomen.org/ website. You must be an active member of AWA
Shooting Chapters to participate in live fire at MTFI. Monthly meetings are held the 3rd
Thursday of each
month from 5:45pm to 8pm. For more information, please email Trish at 3forksmags@gmail.com
Instructor
Patricia (Trish) Reiss is an NRA Pistol Instructor and Chief Range Safety Officer, USCCA Instructor, Armed Women of America (AWA) and Montana State Certified Firearms Instructor, and has also received a Deliberate Coaching Instructor rating from Brian Hill of The Complete Combatant and a Certificate of Completion from Mike Seeklander’s Instructor Development course. She was an approved NRA Basic Pistol Safety Instructor for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office on the east coast since 2011. She has received multiple training certifications from the Sig Sauer Academy, as well as Gunsite Academy, Warfighter Concepts, Defenders USA, Modern Samurai Project and Montana Tactical Firearms Instruction. Trish believes in continuing education and loves to learn to improve as a student and a coach. As the shooting industry is constantly changing, Trish continues to learn and provide current techniques to her students. She founded the Montana Maggies Female Training Group, which is a select group of women RSO’s and AWA Volunteers that meet weekly to practice in order to maintain and grow their
skills. She was a match director for International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) and founded the Hudson Chapter in New York in 2011; she was a Chapter Leader of The Well Armed Woman (now AWA) Shooting Chapters in New York since 2012-2016 and continues to lead the AWA Chapter of 70 women in Three Forks, MT since 2017. Additional instruction from Olympic Shooter and TV’s Top Shot Gabby
Franco and Keith Gibson were also part of Trish’s initial training when she first began her firearms journey in 2011.
Trish has taught well over 1,000 students, both men and women, but realized early on a need for women to feel more comfortable in the often intimidating male dominated world of firearms. To help facilitate the entrance of women into the gun world, Trish founded the first Women’s Concealed Carry Holster Fashion Show in 2012, which emphasized the need to “Train before you carry!” (See NRA Video Gun/Gear & Freedom below) She has written several articles in the IDPA Practical Shooting Quarterly magazine. Trish brings a broad variety of knowledge to the MTFI team and we are very excited to be working with her.
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