By Suarez International Staff Instructor Craig S. Flaherty
You have been lied to for years. Ammunition manufactures, instructors and the gun culture in general have lied to you. When it comes down to an inter-personal violent encounter where handguns are used, the bullets fired from that handgun do not work. This not an exercise in the age old argument, 9mm vs. 45 ACP vs. .40 vs. take your pick. As an example I was once told an issued .40 S&W round issued to me was the “laser beam of death”. This particular round has done things such as bounce off a cheek bone and failed to penetrate to a depth to do any significant damage to the human body, to name just two.
Why is this; clothing, angle, temperature or medical science? I feel all these things have a role in these types of incidents. Let’s look at arguably one of the most investigated and documented incidents of the last quarter of century to see what we may see. On April 11th, 1986 that has been talked about and reported on since.
In the 1980’s, there were a good deal of notorious violent crimes in Miami. Most of them, were linked to the cocaine trade. But of all the violent assaults that took place during Dade County’s most violent period, the most influential and notorious of them all did not involve high-profile drug cartels. It involved two middle-aged armed robbers and eight FBI agents. What began as another morning in Miami ended as, what was at the time, the bloodiest day in the history of the FBI.
After several robberies, murders and assaults the culmination of the investigation began at about 9 AM on April 11, 1986, Special Agents noticed two men identified as Michael Platt and William Matix in a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo on South Dixie Highway. They moved in behind them and alerted the rest of the team that they were following the suspects. Sensing that they were being followed, the robbers turned from the freeway onto surface streets, behind the Dixie Belle shopping center. As the rest of the agents closed in on the suspects, another Special Agent passed the Monte Carlo and saw Platt loading his Ruger Mini-14.
Platt and Matix’s vehicle was forced into a large tree in a parking lot along a surface street. Immediately after crashing, Platt fired 13 rounds at the agents from his Mini-14, hitting two agents. Matix then leaned out of the Monte Carlo, presumably to try and overtake one of the FBI vehicles for a quick escape. Matix was immediately shot in the forearm. While back inside the car Matix was hit again, this time in the head and collarbone, The head shot, while accurate and often deadly, only managed to knock the robber unconscious.
Platt continued to shoot at the Agents as he got out of the Monte Carlo and began to advance on a FBI vehicle. During this charge he was shot four times, mostly in the legs and torso, and then another five times as he attempted to commandeer the FBI automobile. Platt was undeterred by the flurry of bullets hitting him as he made his assault, and upon arrival at Agents car, Platt shot them both, killing each instantly. He also shot several other agents in the process, providing cover as Matix somehow regained consciousness after being shot in the head. The two suspects crawled into the front of an FBI car and continued to receive gunshot wounds, and return fire, for another two minutes.
Platt was shot in the feet as he exited the FBI vehicle again, presumably to fire more shots. While the wounds were not fatal, they did force Platt back into the vehicle. An Agent advanced on the FBI vehicle the contained Platt and Matix with a .357 magnum revolver, firing into the vehicle five times. Despite having both been shot in the head, chest and extremities, the wounds that finally stopped Platt and Matix were rounds that lodged in their spines during this final attack. Thus ending a nine minute shoot out.
Autopsy reports showed that the suspects were hit 18 times by FBI bullets, incurring multiple injuries to “kill zones” like the head and chest. Following the incident reports showed that guns had functioned properly. Had the bullets done their jobs Platt would have lasted about 30 seconds after his first chest wound.
Hence my theory, “Bullets Don’t Work”. Now this very short account of the incident does not do it justice. I use it as a point of reference. Have we had weapon and ammunition improvements over the last twenty five years? Of course we have. Many variables impact why bullets do what they do. If you have ever been in one of my classes, you have heard me talk on this subject. Quite simply put. Bullets don’t work, but we are lucky. Ammunition manufactures do a great service. They include a couple “magic” bullets in every box. We as end users just have to find them.
As Gabe has proposed during courses for years, “Shoot them to the ground”. When you attend a course, you spend a very few precious hours with an instructor. Some instructors will teach you two to the chest one to the head. In a training environment where saving ammunition and making drills easier for the instructor to control the class is part of the equation. This may not be the best option for you when you are confronted with inter-personal violence that needs to be resolved with a handgun. If you have attended a Suarez International with course you will remember hearing “a burst to the chest and a couple to the head” your choice. When you are training and not under our direct supervision, it is my fervent hope as it is all Suarez International Instructors you remember all the lessons learned during the time we have together. Bullets don’t work and keep shooting good accurate shots until that magic bullet does its damage.
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