I can remember seeing movies showing firing squads to execute condemned prisoners during war times and also for the death penalty when a criminal had committed murder! I always thought it would be terrible to be standing there, blindfolded, waiting for the shot(s) to ring out. And I also thought it would be worse if the bullet(s) only wounded the condemned, who would have to be stood up and shot again or “finished off” in some other horrible way—MOVIES!
But, I also thought about the gas chamber, electrocution, lethal injection, etc. and could never decide which way I considered the most effective and least inhumane method! I always knew that “real life” was not always as things were depicted on television and at “picture shows.”
Well, the death penalty method that is making a “come-back” recently is THE FIRING SQUAD, as an alternative choice compared to lethal injections, which have come under stricter scrutiny by companies fearing lawsuits for possible problems or as the exact drugs for most efficiency become harder to procure.
FIRING SQUAD defined: group of soldiers detailed to shoot a condemned person and instructed to “fire” simultaneously so as not to have disruptions by one member or another and to prevent identification of who fired the lethal shot…..sandbags are usually stacked behind and around the chair of the condemned person to prevent ricocheting bullets from flying around the solid walls of the room….. certified and anonymous shooters often stand about 25’ from the condemned and are hidden by a curtain of some sorts…..often the shots are fired through an opening(s) in a brick or other solid material wall…..at least one gun is usually loaded with a “blank” so that it cannot be determined who fired the fatal shot(s).
At one time, “death by bullets” received good reception from many “experts,” who believed that the almost immediate rupturing of the heart and immediate unconsciousness of the recipient of the bullets, and very quick bleeding to death, was the most humane and yet effective way—while lethal drugs masked what viewers see as they paralyze the recipients so that they cannot show the intense pain they actually feel. And, drugs do sometimes not have the exact desired or expected effects!
Contradicting this complaint against the “paralyzing” drugs, though, is the thought that “condemned folks” who are shot can and do remain conscious sometimes 10 seconds or longer after the bullet(s) penetrate and can feel terrible pain from the smashing of bones and/or the “not complete damage” to the spinal cord.
So, what to do? South Carolina, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Utah do allow death by firing squads, and others are seriously considering it—especially favoring this method are those folks who also believe that the condemned should have a choice as to what will happen and how!
And, it appears that the choice to face the firing squad when lethal injection drugs are not available will be “up to the prisoners.” It seems that quite a few “queried” respondents say that they feel the “electric chair” is quite a bit less humane than is the firing squad!
Oh, breaking news: Idaho has just recently signed into law the legality of using firing squads, but only if the State cannot procure the lethal injection drugs needed to “do the job correctly and humanely.”
And, from what I can find, the most recent execution by a firing squad was at the Utah State Prison during June of 2010.
So far, the following question has never been answered to the agreement of both “sides” who debate the death penalty and its enforcement. Should enforcers worry so much if the method is relatively painless, when the person being put to death is a person who deserves death? Maybe this article will provide topics for discussion!
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