Death by firing squad

The1calledTKE · #1 05-23-2003, 12:18 AM

I see Utah is about to excute 2 guys bye fring squad. Is this humane? Granted the guys shooting are probably expert marksman. I think it is ok, quick they should feel any pain and probably scares them more.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/22/fi....ap/index.html

James · #2 05-23-2003, 12:34 AM

I was more worried about the fact that they were seeking "volunteers" from the police in the communities that the crimes were committed in.

Kind of like having the arresting officers also kill the person . . .

Not sure if that is exactly healthy. Comes out too much like revenge.

Jill1228 · #3 05-23-2003, 12:40 AM

In Utah, the condemned have a choice between firing squad and lethal injection (some choice huh)

They CHOSE firing squad! They MUST be on crack!

James · #4 05-23-2003, 12:42 AM

I can see wanting to go out in a more masculine way. Lethal injection is going out like a bitch.

steelepike · #5 05-23-2003, 12:45 AM

Well they chose it so its fine by me. If someone wants to be torture and drawn, quartered and then decapitation its their choice.

damasa · #6 05-23-2003, 12:46 AM

The firing sguad is a method that usually involves between four and six certified police officers. I'm assuming the men will die one at a time because in a traditional firing squad there is only one live bullet that is randomly placed in one of the guns to be used while all the rest are blanks. The officers are required to aim for the head (to make for a quick death) and none of the officers know which gun has the live bullet in it.
So in a sense, the officers will never know who fired the fatal shot...

AlphaSigOU · #7 05-23-2003, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by zntke711
I see Utah is about to excute 2 guys bye fring squad. Is this humane? Granted the guys shooting are probably expert marksman. I think it is ok, quick they should feel any pain and probably scares them more.

Utah is one of the few states that allows the condemned their choice of execution: lethal injection, hanging or firing squad.

The way the firing squad execution protocol works is that all but one or two of the rifles in the firing party are loaded with blanks; the live rounds are loaded at random and out of sight of the firing party so no one person can say "I fired the fatal bullet". They fire at a target pinned to the heart of the condemned (not at the head; it would be rather messy). Surprisingly, with a firing squad execution, there's a greater probability that the condemned's body could be donated to science or for organ transplant (except for the heart), unlike other forms of execution. That was Gary Gilmore's request when he was executed in 1977.

Recommend reading Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song for a more detailed account of the Gilmore case and execution.

In a military firing squad the protocol is usually the same; the person in charge of the firing squad usually administers the coup de grace -- a shot in the head -- if the condemned wasn't felled immediately by the rifle volley.

damasa · #8 05-23-2003, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by AlphaSigOU
Utah is one of the few states that allows the condemned their choice of execution: lethal injection, hanging or firing squad.

The way the firing squad execution protocol works is that all but one or two of the rifles in the firing party are loaded with blanks; the live rounds are loaded at random and out of sight of the firing party so no one person can say "I fired the fatal bullet". They fire at a target pinned to the heart of the condemned. Surprisingly, with a firing squad execution, there's a greater probability that the condemned's body could be donated to science or for organ transplant (except for the heart), unlike other forms of execution. That was Gary Gilmore's request when he was executed in 1977.

Recommend reading Norman Mailer's The
Executioner's Song for a more detailed account of the Gilmore case and execution.

Sorry, it is the heart, wasn't sure, I thought it was the head.....

LeslieAGD · #9 05-23-2003, 08:48 AM

At least a bullet would kill you quicker than any of the other forms of execution.

Lady Pi Phi · #10 05-23-2003, 09:13 AM

A firing squad might be a faster way to die, but my understanding of leathal injections is that they first put you sleep, and then inject you with something to stop the heart. So you really don't know how long it takes.

As for firing squad, well if that's what they want, then who am I to judge.

DeltAlum · #11 05-23-2003, 11:01 AM

For what it's worth, as noted above, in the old military firing squads, all except one rifle had blanks. As I read the article today, in Utah, all but one rifle have live rounds. The results are the same -- nobody knows who actually fires fatal shots.

The results are also the same in another way...

texas*princess · #12 05-23-2003, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AlphaSigOU
Utah is one of the few states that allows the condemned their choice of execution: lethal injection, hanging or firing squad.

I thought hanging was 'cruel and unusual punishment' according to the U.S! that's crazy! I would have thought that firing squad would have been classified as cruel & unusual, but I guess not.

If that's the way they want to go, more power to 'em!

bethany1982 · #13 05-23-2003, 12:47 PM

Fire away!

valkyrie · #14 05-23-2003, 12:59 PM

If the people doing the shooting are willing to volunteer to do it, why bother with having multiple shooters with blanks? If you don't have a problem shooting somebody, why do you need to be in denial of being the one who actually killed the person?

AlphaSigOU · #15 05-23-2003, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by valkyrie
If the people doing the shooting are willing to volunteer to do it, why bother with having multiple shooters with blanks? If you don't have a problem shooting somebody, why do you need to be in denial of being the one who actually killed the person?

Through the many years of the use of the firing squad, people tended to notice that over time the shooters would lose their edge and eventually suffer remorse over killing the condemned; the Russians (back in the Stalinist days) were notorious in that they were quite willing to replace worn-out firing squad members by making them the condemned.

The recoil of firing blank and live ammunition is almost indistinguishable. Only if you actually look at the ground and see the spent casing could you tell the difference, depending on how the blank was manufactured.

Interesting how the protocol for a military firing squad works; in early days, the condemned actually issued the order to fire; a blindfold was sometimes issued, but some would actually refuse it.

An excellent description is at http://www.urbanlegends.com/death/fi..._protocol.html .