# USA - execution by firing squad **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273 "2025-03-07T23:49:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/21 "2025-03-08T12:52:33Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I thought the idea with multiple shooters is that only one of them shot an actual bullet, and the others had blanks or something. (The idea that each shooter didn’t know if their rifle was the one w/ the bullet, and thus the odds of them being the executioner were low.) That pre-supposes that one would feel guilt for being an executioner, even if the killing was government-sanctioned, so none of the execution squad would be certain they were they actual person to end a life. In a similar manner, there have been times when multiple switches were used in electric chair executions with not all switches being active so, again, who actually did end a life would always be a bit in doubt. These days, I am convinced there are people who would not only gladly participate in an executions squad, they’d be eager to do so and be quite proud of killing a fellow human being. So no need to be coy, give everyone on the squad live ammo. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/22 "2025-03-08T15:20:06Z")
The killer is pretty barbaric too, you know. Wonder how we would feel if it were our family members who were beaten to death with a baseball bat. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/23 "2025-03-08T15:22:31Z")
One hopes that society aspires to a higher standard than the behavior of a convicted criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/24 "2025-03-08T15:45:29Z")
Re: Firing squads. Who the fuck voluntarily takes a job like that? Is there anybody here that would do it? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/25 "2025-03-08T18:25:45Z")
How about 12 gauge Screaming Mimi slugs that sound like a demon from hell as they go downrange? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/26 "2025-03-08T18:41:51Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > As I said, Utah has five guns and one has a blank. SC has three loaded guns. This is a silly practice. Anyone who’s ever fired a rifle knows that the recoil from a blank round is nothing like the recoil from a ball round. Moreover, even if you weren’t actually the one who fired the fatal shot, your participation was a required part of the protocol, so you’re as culpable as if you did. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/27 "2025-03-08T19:18:55Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Wonder how we would feel if it were our family members who were beaten to death with a baseball bat. Which is why family members are not involved in setting punishments. By the way, on the topic of barbarism, nice company you guys keep: > In 2022, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, [China](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China), [Iran](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran), [Saudi Arabia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia), [Egypt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt), and the [United States](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States).[[8](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_country#cite_note-:0-8) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/28 "2025-03-08T20:43:48Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > How about 12 gauge Screaming Mimi slugs that sound like a demon from hell as they go downrange? not much screaming going on while the slug travels a whooping 15 ft. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/29 "2025-03-08T20:48:40Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > What a fucking barbaric society I utterly agree, in so many more ways than this. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/30 "2025-03-09T04:22:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > What a fucking barbaric society Yet still, I thought the “tradition” was one bullet would be a blank (dunno if it’s possible to know/not know if you fired a blank) yet the shooters were left with some kind of “maybe it wasn’t me” notion. Yeah, barbaric. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/31 "2025-03-09T04:33:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@kayT](#): > > > > Wonder how we would feel if it were our family members who were beaten to death with a baseball bat. > > Which is why family members are not involved in setting punishments. Exactly. Victims and the loved ones of victims are entitled to give victim impact statements to the court, but they’re the last persons qualified to make objective decisions about fair punishment. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > By the way, on the topic of barbarism, nice company you guys keep: > > > In 2022, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, [China](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China), [Iran](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran), [Saudi Arabia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia), [Egypt](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt), and the [United States](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States). That, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/32 "2025-03-09T04:46:25Z")
Why wouldn’t someone choose lethal injection over a firing squad? Without reading this thread, I would’ve chosen either other option over getting shot. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/33 "2025-03-09T04:52:26Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Why wouldn’t someone choose lethal injection over a firing squad? To my understanding, because it’s been botched so many times. Plus, the refusal of drug companies to provide drugs for lethal injection worsens the potential for a botched execution due to expired or inferior drugs being used. And the electric chair has its own issues, where death may be prolonged and far from instantaneous as intended. As I said, the whole system is just incredibly barbaric. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/34 "2025-03-09T05:11:40Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Why wouldn’t someone choose lethal injection over a firing squad? Here’s an interesting article on the topic of botched lethal injections: > **[What is it like to survive an execution by lethal injection?](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/28/lethal-injection-surviving-execution-attempt-alabama)** > > Alabama’s corrections department has bungled the procedure on three recent occasions, with IV teams failing for hours on end, adding immense distress to a difficult situation ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/35 "2025-03-09T05:16:55Z")
Certainly barbaric! I assumed it would basically be like an overdose of general anesthesia, which I’ve had to do a couple of times, and it was quite pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/36 "2025-03-09T05:17:02Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I thought it was that all but one of them had a bullet, so there would be plenty of bullets, but no one shooter knew for certain he’d taken a man’s life. Each shooter can be certain whether they were the one who fired a bullet or a blank. It’s the rest of the world who can’t be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/37 "2025-03-09T05:21:14Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > One hopes that society aspires to a higher standard than the behavior of a convicted criminal. I am mildly against the death penalty myself, largely due to discussions on this very message board, but this argument has always fallen flat with me. The individual executed was given a trial where the state had to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt they committed a murder. This is far more consideration than the victim received. You might as well say we should aspire to a higher standard than the behavior of a convicted criminal when we incarcerate someone for kidnapping. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/38 "2025-03-09T06:05:53Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > One hopes that society aspires to a higher standard than the behavior of a convicted criminal. > > I am mildly against the death penalty myself, largely due to discussions on this very message board, but this argument has always fallen flat with me. The behaviour of a criminal doesn’t reflect the values of our society, but the way that our institutions treat them absolutely does reflect our values. No amount of legalistic mumbo-jumbo can ever excuse barbarism. > [@Odesio](#): > > The individual executed was given a trial where the state had to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt they committed a murder. Besides the considerable moral issues surrounding the death penalty, I also take exception to “beyond a shadow of a doubt” … > **[Cameron Todd Willingham’s Wrongful Execution Gains New Attention After...](https://innocenceproject.org/news/cameron-todd-willingham-wrongfully-convicted-and-executed-in-texas/)** > > Netflix’s release of Trial by Fire in 2025 has reignited public interest in Cameron Todd Willingham’s wrongful execution and the flawed arson science that sealed his fate. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/39 "2025-03-09T06:13:32Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I am mildly against the death penalty myself, largely due to discussions on this very message board, but this argument has always fallen flat with me. The individual executed was given a trial where the state had to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt they committed a murder. This is far more consideration than the victim received. You might as well say we should aspire to a higher standard than the behavior of a convicted criminal when we incarcerate someone for kidnapping I’ve heard it explained as “the Government should not be in the business of killing its citizens”. Whether or not the criminal _deserved_ to die isn’t relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/40 "2025-03-09T12:57:46Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Why wouldn’t someone choose lethal injection over a firing squad? Without reading this thread, I would’ve chosen either other option over getting shot. Because the people administering it aren’t doctors who are trained in how to render you completely unconscious before adding drugs that will stop your heart and lungs. They’re some corrections employee who volunteered or was nominated to do the job. So it can be botched, and has been, with people NOT being unconscious while suffocating or experiencing massive coronaries. Sometimes taking 10 or even 20 minutes to die. > [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > I assumed it would basically be like an overdose of general anesthesia, which I’ve had to do a couple of times, and it was quite pleasant. I think that was the intention originally, and IF these things were done by an actual, experienced, competent anesthesiologist it would go as planned. But so far as I know no anesthesiologist, who devoted more than a decade to learning how to _safely_ administer these drugs in the interests of keeping people alive and helping to heal, has any interest in using those skills to kill people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273.md?page=3)