# If you could participate in a firing squad, would you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884 "2004-09-24T15:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/21 "2004-09-25T00:38:57Z")
> [@QOFM: Sit Down](#): > > Squad Leader: “Good Job you killed the guy, but you are supposed to use the OTHER end of the gun to kill him” Now THAT’s funny! I’m opposed to the death penalty for any reason. But if the sentence is handed down and I haven’t yet done my part to eliminate that punishment as an option, then I’d rather I was in charge of delivering a hasty departure for the condemned. Screw the paper target, I’m aiming the .30 cal for just above the dude’s right eyebrow–just in case some other SMF is aiming for his knee or his gut, which isn’t out of the question. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/22 "2004-09-25T01:48:44Z")
The only way I would participate is as the guy against the wall. As ways to go, go… it’s always seemed one of the coolest. The last smoke… refusing the blindfold… famous last words. It’s got it all. Yep, beats the pants off just having someone unplug a machine. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/23 "2004-09-25T02:06:36Z")
No. Never. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/24 "2004-09-25T02:17:22Z")
Yes, I would. Preferably waiting outside the courthouse door so we could shoot the bugger minutes after pronouncement of the sentence. Let’s get it done with. ---
**Author:** ![zoltar7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b38774/32.png) [@zoltar7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoltar7)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/25 "2004-09-25T02:19:47Z")
I’m opposed to the death penalty, so I would volunteer and then intentionally miss. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/26 "2004-09-25T04:02:44Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Yes, I would. Preferably waiting outside the courthouse door so we could shoot the bugger minutes after pronouncement of the sentence. Let’s get it done with. Heh…s’how they do it in China. So I’ve heard. Not a lot of money wasted on appeals. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/27 "2004-09-25T05:27:01Z")
Well, I’ll volunteer…but the thing is, I’ve never handled a rifle before, so I don’t know how much use I’d be with one.\* I’d probably end up shooting one of the reporters or witnesses, by accident. :smack: \*Unless we’re talking about one of those deals where the rifle is basically locked in place in a tripod, already sighted in on the target. In which case it wouldn’t matter, because I’d just be a glorified button-pusher. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/28 "2004-09-25T05:36:27Z")
Hell no. Even if I was in the military and ordered to do it, I would deliberately shoot to miss. > [@danceswithcats](#): > > Yes, I would. Preferably waiting outside the courthouse door so we could shoot the bugger minutes after pronouncement of the sentence. Let’s get it done with. Why even bother with firearms? You could just throw rocks. :rolleyes: This is my 10,000th post. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/29 "2004-09-25T06:14:42Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Why even bother with firearms? You could just throw rocks. :rolleyes: Because the OP made specific reference to a firing squad, not a stoning squad. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/30 "2004-09-25T13:47:37Z")
Yes, I would just to see what it felt like. The guy is going to die one way or the other so I might as well get a little educational experience out of it. I don’t think that I would have a problem with it although it might cause nightmares for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/31 "2004-09-27T13:43:57Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > I’m a little unsure about the OP. What do you mean by “volunteer?” > > […] > > I’m not trying to be snarky with my question. I’m honestly unsure. However it lets you answer the question. Perhaps you hear on the local news that they need volunteers for a firing squad? I don’t know. How you find out you have the opportunity is not that important. Just that you have the chance to volunteer. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/32 "2004-09-27T13:56:18Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Heh…s’how they do it in China. So I’ve heard. Not a lot of money wasted on appeals. Hell in China they _charge your family_ for the cost of the bullet they used to kill you. Now that is some cold blooded stuff right there. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/33 "2004-09-27T13:59:06Z")
Nope. Anti-death penalty, don’t have any desire to see what killing another person is like. Wouldn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/34 "2004-09-27T14:19:02Z")
I’m in favor of killing a few innocent people so that no guilty man goes free or lives another day, if he/she were facing the death penalty. It is the sacrfice that some innocent people will have to make. Kind of like war. Innocent people die to protect us. In the war on crime, same thing. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/35 "2004-09-27T15:31:30Z")
I am a Marine Corps veteran, pro-capital punishment, and I own three firearms. I would not volunteer to participate in the death of a condemned person. Much along the same lines as **Crafter\_Man**. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/36 "2004-09-27T15:38:47Z")
NOOO! There is an amazingly powerful documentry on the death penalty that shows several “death by bullet” scenes (mostly in China I think) that would put almost everyone off the death penalty. Grrrr I wish I could remember the name of the film. The death penalty is nasty no matter how it happens. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/37 "2004-09-27T15:39:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes, I would just to see what it felt like. The guy is going to die one way or the other so I might as well get a little educational experience out of it. I don’t think that I would have a problem with it although it might cause nightmares for a few days. This post cracks me up. Mostly because you’re absolutely serious. * * * I’m against the death penalty. However, it’s due to my fear of too much government power, not because I’m squeemish about killing. I’m a hunter who regularly kills (or attempts to kill) big game animals at close ranges with gun and bow. I would participate in a firing squad. I don’t know if I’d volunteer, but that would depend entirely on the situation. I have experience with firearms, so maybe I would be inclined to volunteer if there was a shortage of experienced shooters available. I would also volunteer if the person had committed crimes against my loved ones. In any case, I doubt I’d have much trouble sleeping afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/38 "2004-09-27T15:40:33Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > I’m in favor of killing a few innocent people so that no guilty man goes free or lives another day, if he/she were facing the death penalty. Really? What if you were the innocent person? ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/39 "2004-09-27T15:44:50Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > The only way I would participate is as the guy against the wall. As ways to go, go… it’s always seemed one of the coolest. > The last smoke… refusing the blindfold… famous last words. It’s got it all. > Yep, beats the pants off just having someone unplug a machine. Yeah, amen to that. If I can figure out a way to live to like 500 and then be killed by firing squad, I’ll have it made. As for being one of the executioners, hell no. I’m morally opposed to the death penalty. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884/40 "2004-09-27T15:50:58Z")
No way. I was offered the chance to witness the execution of some Tibetans in China, and I did debate going, but declined in the end. I did see the convicts driven past on the back of a truck, in the last few minutes of their lives, though, which was disturbing enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-participate-in-a-firing-squad-would-you/265884.md?page=3)