RSWC #230, Denise Arcieri, Armed Princess

Riding Shotgun With Charlie
#230
Denise Arcieri
Armed Princess

I connected with Denise Arcieri through Yehuda Remer, The Pew Pew Jew (RSWC #012) a few years ago. We talked about doing a show but when I reached out recently, she said she had some exciting news and this was a perfect time! She works at Pioneer Arms LLC in Whitinsville, MA. They make their own fixed magazine ARs, which are Mass legal. They did a special run of them with her Armed Princess logo! And we spent some time and got a few photos of those in the show.

Denise grew up in a pro gun family and used to shoot with her father. Then her kids started shooting with her father. He encouraged her to come to a women’s event and give it a try again. She found out that she was good at it and she enjoyed it. The instructor saw that she was competent and familiar and asked her to help run the line. She saw that some women were more responsive to her than to the male instructors. One of the women there was a DV survivor. She really attached herself to Denise that evening.

That’s when Denise decided that she was going to get more involved. She’s also a DV survivor. When she was younger, she was in an abusive relationship. After incidents, she would call the police and they really didn’t do anything back then other than say things like ““let him cool off” or “he’ll be fine tomorrow” or “he’s not here now and there’s nothing we can do”. Even after she was fully out of this relationship, her ex and his family members would pop up in her life. Maybe run into her at the store. Or see her around town. There were late night phone calls from her ex, too.

After becoming an instructor, she started working with more women and has been a great resource at Pioneer Arms. Due to her day job, she was apprehensive about posting pictures of her shooting. But once she started instructing and posting about upcoming courses, the ex’s family stopped running into her. She stopped getting calls. She was able to get her life back together and move on. This has also been inspiring to other women that she was teaching.

Building an online presence wasn’t really something she was looking to do, but it has worked in her favor. Denise has been connecting with many other 2A influencers on “the ‘Gram” and building her audience. She connected with the folks at Greyman Solutions. She is one of their brand ambassadors.They gave her the title “Armed Princess” and she graciously accepted it and ran with it.

I did get to Pioneer Arms to get some pictures of her logoed AR lowers. You’ll see those in the video. For Mass residents, they do have fixed magazines, both as short 10 round mags and long 10 round mags. You can also get a MEAN Arms speedloader for this or any AR style rifle. If you’re in “free America”, you can also order a lower and they can ship it to your local FFL.

The hard part about life is those learning lessons and years. Fortunately, Denise has taken what were some bad years and turned them into something that’s not just good for her and her life, but good for other women, too. With the perspective of being the Armed Princess, she can help other women learn to shoot, become familiar with firearms, and maybe give them the skills and confidence that they need to get out of their situation. That can lead to these women helping others. And so on. And so on.

Favorite quotes:
“Why did I stop doing this? I love this.”
“When you’re coming out of one of those situations, sometimes don’t believe your own life is worth protecting.”
“The idea of a gun to protect myself didn’t enter my mind, even though it had been in my life.”
“Given that we live in an area where you drive three hours and go through three states, that they would recognize each other’s licenses.”
“…told me she had been to three gun shops previously and walked out of every one because she didn’t feel comfortable.”

Armed Princess Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/armed.princess

Armed Princess Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/p/Armedprincess-100064335295006

Pioneer Arms LLC

https://pioneerarmsllc.com

Pioneer Arms LLC Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pioneerarmsllc

Pioneer Arms LLC Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/pioneerarmsllc

Greyman Solutions

https://greymansolutions.net