UTAH (USA): LAWMAKERS VOTE TO BRING BACK EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD

March 11, 2015: The Senate voted 18-10 to carry out a death sentence by firing squad, if the state cannot track down drugs used in lethal injections.
Four Republicans joined Democrats in opposition. The measure narrowly passed the House last month. The Republican-controlled state Legislature gave final approval to HB11 Tuesday night, with lawmakers billing it as a backup plan as states struggle to find execution drugs amid a nationwide shortage.
If the governor signs the measure, Utah would become the only state to allow executions by firing squad if there is a drug shortage.
Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has declined to say if he will approve or veto the bill, a decision that's not expected for a week or so.
The bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Paul Ray, said it would give the state options. "We would love to get the lethal injection worked out so we can continue with that. But if not, now we have a backup plan," Ray told The Associated Press. Ray says a firing squad is a more humane form of execution. He argued that a team of trained marksmen is faster than the drawn-out deaths that have occurred in botched lethal injections.
Opponents say firing squads are a cruel holdover from the state's wild West days and will earn Utah international condemnation.
The head of Utah's prison system has said it does not have lethal injection drugs on hand and would have to obtain some if an execution were to be scheduled. Utah's last firing-squad execution was in 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death by five police officers with .30-caliber Winchester rifles. The state has carried out three executions by firing squad since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
Legislation to allow firing squads has been introduced in Arkansas this year, while a Wyoming firing-squad measure failed. In Oklahoma, lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the state to use nitrogen gas to execute inmates. (Sources: Associated Press, 11/03/2015)