Firing Squads of Utah

The chair the soon to be executed would sit in.

According to BBC, the state of Utah has reintroduced the use of firing squads for the death penalty if the lethal injection cannot be obtained. Utah had abolished the use of the firing squad in 2004. There was one man in Utah, by the name of Ronnie Lee Gardner, who was executed by firing squad in 2010. He had only been able to be executed in such a manner due to the fact that he was sentenced to death by firing squad before 2004. Gardner had been convicted for the act of a double murder. While obviously many agree with the passage of the firing squad, as it did pass in the first place, there are many who disagree with the entire concept of such an act. Ralph Dellapiana stated that the adoption of would be "...a horrible and tremendous step backward to a more barbaric past." Utah decided to reinstate firing squads after there were a few failed executions with lethal injection. Similar to lethal injection, the soon to be dead would be strapped into a chair while the shooters aim their rifles through firing holes from across the room. This image was most likely the same image seen by Roberto Arguelles and Troy Michael Kell in 2003. Arguelles had been a serial killer and Kell was a white supremacist that stabbed an inmate until he passed away. All the while, he had been yelling "White power" as he stabbed the African-American inmate. Both decided to be executed through the use of firing squad over lethal injection. Kell did, however, attempt to file an appeal to postpone his execution, but it was denied. Arguelles had been sentenced to death in 1997, while Kell was convicted in 1996. Personally, I completely agree with the use of firing squads. While there have been botched lethal injections, there is no way to botch a death by firing squad, as there are five rifles, four of which have live rounds, while the fifth contains a black. This blank protects the minds of those in the squad, as no one knows who actually fired the shots that killed another human being. If someone manages to survive four rounds of what is most likely a .308 bullet, then I would be extremely surprised, as I have personally seen a 250-300 pound black bear downed instantly with just a single .308 round. The use of firing squad is actually the least "cruel and unusual punishment" out of all penalties of death. Besides, what ever happened to "an eye for an eye," as the people being executed did kill another human being after all.




Ronnie Lee Gardner himself.