Firearm Safety Training with Bill Tidwell

Reed's Indoor Range (1100 Duane Ave, Santa Clara) hosts firearms training from three certified instructors, each with different focuses and experience levels.

Bill and his wife Cathy have taught over 20,000 shooters in 35+ years. Bill maintains NRA certifications in rifle, pistol, shotgun, personal protection, and muzzleloading. He was named California's first Hunter Education Instructor of the Year (1998).

• •Basic Handgun Course ($225) - Two evening sessions covering safety, revolver and semi-auto familiarization, cleaning, storage, and basic marksmanship. Optional third evening adds both-handed shooting and larger calibers ($115 additional).

• •NRA First Steps Rifle Course ($225) - 3.5 hours introducing .22 rifle fundamentals, rifle actions, ammunition types, and cleaning. Saturday mornings.

• •NRA First Steps Shotgun Course ($225) - Covers shotgun actions, chokes, shotshell selection, and applications from trap/skeet to self-defense. Classroom and live fire.

• •NRA Personal Protection in the Home ($275) - Nine-hour course on defensive handgun skills, concealment vs. cover, home safety strategies, and firearm selection. Prerequisite: Basic or First Steps pistol course. Requires student's handgun and 150 rounds ammo.

• •UT CCW Course ($125) - Four-hour course for Utah non-resident concealed carry permits (recognized by 35 states, excluding California).

• •California CCW Courses - 8-hour ($300) or 16-hour ($500) courses teaching firearms safety, California self-defense law, and basic defensive pistol skills with approximately 130 rounds fired. Includes drawing from holster and county-specific qualification courses. NRA certificate available for Florida and Arizona applications.

• •California Hunter Safety Courses - In-person courses available (register at wildlife.ca.gov/huntered, $20 fee at Reed's). Bill certified as Master Hunter Education Instructor.

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Retired after 30 years law enforcement (Santa Clara PD), including 18 years on special response teams and 16 years as point man on entry teams. Trained under Louis Awerbuck, Clint Smith, Gunsite, and Scott Reitz. Holds instructor certifications from NRA, FBI, Gunsite, Simunitions, and California P.O.S.T.

• •Stage-1 Handgun Course ($300) - Geared toward little-to-no defensive experience. Covers safety, handgun manipulation, loading/unloading, drawstroke, marksmanship fundamentals, defensive drills, and California use-of-force law. Requires 9mm/.38 special minimum, sturdy gun belt, holster, and 2 spare magazines.

• •Stage-2 Handgun Course ($500) - Prerequisite: Stage-1 completion. Covers fundamental review, malfunction clearing, foot movement, 3D targets, tactical/speed loads, moving target shooting, and kneeling position. Requires sturdy gun belt, holster, 4 spare magazines, knee pads optional.

• •Carbine Course - Full weapons platform training covering fundamentals, rifle nomenclature, zeroing, speed loads, malfunction clearance, transition drills, low/no-light shooting, and movement. Requires 500 rounds brass-cased ammo, 3 magazines, weapon-mounted light, sling, and pistol with holster for transitions.

Post-Course Range Access: After completing Stage-1 & Stage-2 handgun, students can practice holster draws and rapid-fire defensive drills during regular range hours.

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• •For Women, By Women Handgun Course ($250) - Two consecutive evening sessions. First evening covers firearm safety fundamentals in classroom. Second evening live fire with semi-automatic handguns on range. Addresses unique challenges women may face as new shooters.

• •Armed Women of America Silicon Valley Chapter - Monthly meetings hosted at Reed's Indoor Range.

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20 individual 25-yard firing lanes for handgun, shotgun, and pistol-caliber rifles. Lanes first-come, first-served (no reservations).

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• •Monday Night Shooting League - Competitive shooting for beginners with built-in community aspect.

• •Firearms & Ammunition Sales - Largest selection of CA-legal firearms in Silicon Valley. Brands include: Benelli, Beretta, Browning, CZ, Desert Tech, Glock, Heckler & Koch, Kriss, Les Baer, LWRC, Magnum Research, Mossberg, Nighthawk Custom, Remington, Rock Island Armory, Ruger, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson, Springfield Armory, Tikka, Wilson Combat. Ammunition brands: Federal, CCI, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot, Magtech, Hornady, Rio, Underwood. Accessories include Hoppes, Pro Shot, Birchwood Casey, Leupold, Trijicon, Truglo, Vortex, Magpul, Streamlight, Surefire, Crimson Trace, and more.

• •Firearm Transfers - Full transfer policies and services available.

• •Buy/Sell Firearms - Reed's buys single guns or entire collections.