The Utah lawmaker who plans to introduce a proposal to bring back the firing squad as a death penalty option explained on Monday why he thinks it’s more humane than other options like lethal injection.
Fox News host Sean Hannity asked state Rep. Paul Ray (R) about the accuracy of firing squads.
“After what happened in Oklahoma, I mean, you’re not going to mess up a firing squad, right?” Hannity asked.
“The only mess-up we had was in 1897, and we’ve got it right every time since then,” Ray responded.
He explained that the the state could fall back on a firing squad if a court rules that the lethal injection can no longer be used or if the state is unable to obtain the drug cocktail.
Ray then argued that the botched Oklahoma execution still worked, even though the inmate died of a heart attack.
“I don’t know if you can call it botched because he still died,” he said.
“And I don’t feel bad the guy suffered. I mean, look what he did to that little girl,” the lawmaker added after Hannity jumped in to say that the lethal injection didn’t work.
Hannity then asked Ray how it’s possible to improperly perform an execution.
“What I don’t understand is how you screw that up. You could have given him a hot shot of heroin and he would have died. I mean, anything. That doesn’t seem that hard to me,” Hannity said.
“You’re dealing with people who don’t have the expertise on this, and it’s a new cocktail,” Ray responded about doctors who give lethal injections.
Watch the video via Raw Story:
This post has been updated.
Frankly, if I had a choice in execution, I’d pick firing squad. You are dead before you even hear the gun shots. Assuming, of course, that the shooters can aim.
Interestingly, when Utah gave the condemned the choice of hanging or firing squad, almost every one chose the firing squad, even though the chances of living long enough to suffer are much higher with a firing squad (lots of people have lived with multiple gunshot wounds, and there was no guaranty that the firing squad members were really expert shots) than with a hanging (if there’s a competent hangman).
Eddie Slovik, executed for desertion in 1945.
From the Wikipedia article on him:
Twelve picked soldiers were detailed for the firing squad from the 109th Regiment. The weapons used were standard issue M-1 rifles with just one bullet for each rifle. One rifle was loaded with a blank. On the command of “Fire”, Slovik was hit by eleven bullets, at least four of them being fatal. The wounds ranged from high in the neck region out to the left shoulder, over the left chest, and under the heart. One bullet was in the left upper arm. An Army physician quickly determined Slovik had not been immediately killed. The firing squad’s rifles were reloaded in preparation for another volley. But before the reloading of the rifles was complete, Private Slovik died. He was 24 years of age. The whole process took 15 minutes.[9]
This reminds me of a Three Stooges short titled “Restless Knights” and at the risk of being accused of making light of a sensitive subject:
Don’t you just love all these people so ready to deal death to all sorts of others, but who’ve never been close to it themselves?
I have an Idea for these nudniks. Let’ me illustrate to them how the Chinese do it.
Kneel the condemned, stand behind them, and one pistol shot at close range. Oh, and then something Republicans will really go for. The State charges the family of the condemned for the bullet.
I’ll just bet there would be a near endless stream of people like this yahoo from Utah just itching to pull the triggers and I bet they can’t wait to charge for the bullets too.