# death by hanging or firing squad... which would you choose? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 5, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182 "2006-11-05T13:47:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/61 "2006-11-06T17:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] online reference here. [http://www.espionageinfo.com/Ke-Lo/KGB-Komitet-Gosudarstvennoi-Bezopasnosti-USSR-Committee-of-State-Security.html](http://www.espionageinfo.com/Ke-Lo/KGB-Komitet-Gosudarstvennoi-Bezopasnosti-USSR-Committee-of-State-Security.html) [/QUOTE] OK. Thanks for your trouble. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/62 "2006-11-06T20:44:52Z")
While we’re fighting ignorance and all, when you are talking about a person (as opposed to an inanimate object), the proper conjugation for the past tense is “hanged” not “hung.” Examples: Saddam was hanged from a tree. The picture was hung on a wall. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/63 "2006-11-06T21:21:37Z")
I realize this will sound a little stupid, since we’re talking about something fatal either way but I have an incredible fear of impending pain. Much more so than my actual ability to tolerate pain. The anticipation of being shot sounds really horrible. But then I also have a major fear of falling (tied in with my intense fear of heights), so being hanged sounds bad too. I just flipped a coin and it came up heads which I’m taking to mean hanging. So there we go. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/64 "2006-11-07T04:48:03Z")
[QUOTE=A.R. Cane] I’m no expert on firing squads, but I’ve heard that only one rifle had a blank, so that it gave each member a psychological escape. If this is true, it would require that the members not load or unload their weapons. [/QUOTE] It would also require that they don’t know the difference between firing a blank and a real bullet. One has a recoil, the other doesn’t. You instantly know that you’ve fired a blank. If they ever did this, I’ll bet it was for more than making the shooter think he may not have shot a bullet into another human - it might have been for reasons of plausible deniability for each soldier, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/65 "2006-11-07T06:58:23Z")
I’m completely pulling this out of my butt - but since it’s a special occasion they could have a specially loaded blank that better simulated the feel. I’m sure this recoil point has come up in previous firing squad threads. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/66 "2006-11-07T07:19:43Z")
[QUOTE=CarnalK] I’m completely pulling this out of my butt - but since it’s a special occasion they could have a specially loaded blank that better simulated the feel. I’m sure this recoil point has come up in previous firing squad threads. [/QUOTE] I don’t think that’s possible, for a variety of complicated ballistic reasons. The edited highlights are that a lot of recoil isn’t just the powder, it’s the opposite reaction (remember that Newton chap you may have read about back in High School?) of trying to propel a bullet down the barrel. A rifle bullet- say, a .303 British FMJ projectile- weighs in at 174gr (180gr for a Soft Point hunting round). A wad of cardboard or wax (the “wadding” used in blank cartridges instead of a real projectile) weighs in at… well, practically nothing by comparison. Therefore, the recoil from a blank cartridge will always be considerably less than that from a live round. Certainly, most people with firearms knowledge will know this, so I suspect the purpose of a blank round in firing squads is not for the firing squad members (they all know why they are there, and they can tell the difference between a live round and a blank), but for “The general public”- ie, so the families, friends, and acquantainces of the firing squad members can maintain their belief that their partner/parent/co-worker/drinking buddy didn’t fire the fatal shot. Oh, and I’ve heard about the KGB throwing a traitor into a furnace in the 1950s- indeed, one of my books even had the poor unfortunate chap’s name- but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/67 "2006-11-07T07:59:12Z")
I’d venture to suggest that each man in the firing squad would be so wound up and nervous that they would not notice a difference in recoil. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/68 "2006-11-07T09:14:40Z")
Hi **gabriela** , My great-grandfather commited suicide by hanging. I wasn’t there to see it but from the tales I have heard told of it by relatives he had almost kicked his way through a nearby door after leaping off the chair. Does this mean that he was conscious as he strangled, was it some sort of reflex action, or maybe not actually a correct account of what happened? ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/69 "2006-11-07T09:19:16Z")
Oh, that was meant to be in reply to post 15 by **gabriela** … ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/70 "2006-11-11T14:59:05Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] Firing squad. Last choice would be the guillotine. Holy crap. [/QUOTE] Although execution by guillotine is certainly a horrific ordeal for the spectator, I believe that it is a much less horrific and more merciful method of capital punishment for the condemned person, compared to other methods, particularly those predating the invention of the “national razor”. Joseph Ignace Guillotin (the Good Doctor) put a lot of time and effort into making his invention as compassionate as possible. What gives me the willies is imaging the earlier chopping block executions. Inept executioners or dull blades often necessitated multiple whacks to get the job done. It was not unheard of for the choppee being required to give a healthy tip to the chopper as a bribe to assure a swift and accurate chop. _(’Ears me 20 quid, now make it quick, chop chop!)._ Interestingly, as an illustration of capital punishment not being a deterrent to capital crime, a significant number of executioners themselves ended up on the chopping block. As a particle joker, I’d spend a lot of effort devising a way to make my execution humorous—getting my severed head to bounce erratically into the audience and say, _boo_, would be a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/71 "2006-11-11T15:05:43Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. PoopiePants] \As a particle joker, I’d spend a lot of effort …\ [/QUOTE] Yes, I meant to say “particle” joker, I enjoy getting one up on quarks, leptons, bosons… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/72 "2006-11-11T18:03:26Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. PoopiePants] What gives me the willies is imaging the earlier chopping block executions. Inept executioners or dull blades often necessitated multiple whacks to get the job done. [/quote] When attempting to behead James Scott (Duke of Monmouth) in 1685, the executioner Jack Ketch took five blows of the axe and still failed to do the job properly. He finished his task with a knife. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/73 "2006-11-12T00:42:59Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. PoopiePants] Joseph Ignace Guillotin (the Good Doctor) put a lot of time and effort into making his invention as compassionate as possible. [/QUOTE] A common misconception. He didn’t invent it. Pre-revolution there were many different execution methods, the head-chopping device was one of them. The good doctor merely recommended the universal use of the head chopping device as the least cruel method. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2006, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/74 "2006-11-12T06:24:58Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] The picture was hung . . . [/QUOTE] So what did the picture do wrong? 😛 The one way I would prefer NOT to go is seppuku. Cutting up my own inners before being beheaded isn’t the fasted way, although it involves the most “guts.” [Yukio Mishima](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima) experienced the problem of an incompetent second, who botched the beheading part. Took mutiple whacks, after the self-inflicted belly wound, before another person took over and finished the job. Yuck. If I were given any method, I’d take sitting on a 100 lbs of TNT. Solves the problem of bural at the same time. Between the two options in the OP, give me the firing squad. That way no one will write “he was hung like a dog.” Wouldn’t mind esquestrian references, though. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/75 "2006-11-13T18:41:01Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] _“Shoot straight, you bastards! Don’t make a mess of it!”_ – Breaker Morant [/QUOTE] That’s just what I was going to post. A great line from a great movie - and just what my own choice would be, if it ever came to that. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/76 "2006-11-13T22:31:03Z")
[QUOTE=A.R. Cane] aim true gentlemen. [/QUOTE] That sounds very British. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182/77 "2006-11-13T23:36:57Z")
Question: How do you wish to die, gentlemen? Moe Howard (The Three Stooges): that’s easy! OLD AGE! :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-by-hanging-or-firing-squad-which-would-you-choose/379182.md?page=3)