# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/61 "2025-03-10T00:16:22Z")
I oppose the death penalty in general, but I particularly despise execution using lethal injection - I see it as a mockery of science and of the medical profession. It tries to make killing someone “clean”, which is something killing should never be. And the less said about gas chambers the better. No, if someone absolutely, positively has to be killed, I prefer the firing squad. If you’re going to kill someone, kill them properly, with a weapon, not with some gadget. Don’t try to hide what you’re doing. If you can’t stand the sight of blood, maybe you shouldn’t be executing people. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/62 "2025-03-10T00:42:14Z")
_“Shoot straight, you bastards! Don’t make a mess of it!”_ - Breaker Morant (“Lads” was what polite papers edited it down to) > [@Broomstick](#): > > 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 > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > the drug companies don’t want to have their products used to kil people, and when the drug company is from another country, they can be prohibited by that country’s laws from supplying drugs fo killing. One wonders if the people who passed these laws to establish this method of execution ever paused to think of the possibility a drug supplier or a medical professional would simply _refuse_ to be a part of the process. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > No, no exotic deaths. Quick and humane, if we must have the penalty. Do it quickly and coldly and efficiently, if you must. This is the sort of thing you should **not** go into in a state of mind of maximizing cruelty. If you’re going to have to do the dirty job, just do it and be done with it. ---
**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 10, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/63 "2025-03-10T00:42:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I oppose the death penalty in general, but I particularly despise execution using lethal injection - I see it as a mockery of science and of the medical profession. It tries to make killing someone “clean”, which is something killing should never be. And the less said about gas chambers the better. I think most forms of execution are more about making observers and participants (other than the condemned) comfortable. A lethal injection and the gas chamber least looks peaceful while hanging, the guillotine, the electric chair, and even a firing squad are all quick assuming it isn’t botched. Even the guillotine as originally envisioned was about making the killing appear humane by ending a life quickly even if it provided bloody spectacle at the same time. As I said earlier, I’m mildly against the death penalty. What that means is I think there are some people who deserve to die and I’m not going to cry over it. But I have enough concerns over the death penalty overall that I’d be happy to see it go. One of the reasons I’m against the death penalty is because of the stress it causes to guards and other prison officials. We can make it look as clean as we want but at the end of the day we’re still killing someone and that’s not a pleasant task. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/64 "2025-03-10T01:20:12Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > the countries that have regularly applied the death penalty in the last years are: **China, Egypt, Iran, Irak, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, North Korea, Singapur, South Sudan, Yemen and the United States of America** To be clear up front, I am generally in favor of the death penalty under certain circumstances\*. The clear distinction between the countries on that list and the US is that the US is the only country that imposes the ultimate penalty for specifically enumerated crimes against the _people_. There is no death penalty for political crimes, peaceful dissent against the government, or heretical behavior against a religion. Further, in the US, the penalty must be imposed by a jury composed of representative people, not just random judges selected by the State. AFAIK, none of the other countries on that list can say that. \* There are significant issues with the overall trial process in the US and some number of those problems will appear in death penalty cases. We need reform across the entire system, not just the most extreme examples. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/65 "2025-03-10T04:25:43Z")
Like @Tibby , i think a captive bolt weapon is superior to any of the ways we currently botch executions. It’s very fast. It’s probably painless. It’s cheap. There’s no spectacle. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/66 "2025-03-10T04:36:23Z")
If they really want this to catch on, they need to insert the rifles into a machine that whirrs and beeps so they can say it’s the most scientific and humane such device ever invented. There’s often some nexus between new execution methods and the newest wonder-tech, so they should probably add a computer program that wiggles the rifles into position before they go blammo, and then they could call it an AI execution. How clean and bright that would be. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/67 "2025-03-10T06:35:18Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > AFAIK, none of the other countries on that list can say that. I believe that at least China, Egypt and Singapur would dispute that claim. ---
**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 10, 2025, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/68 "2025-03-10T08:17:58Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > One wonders if the people who passed these laws to establish this method of execution ever paused to think of the possibility a drug supplier or a medical professional would simply _refuse_ to be a part of the process. I think they’re baffled that others don’t share the same eagerness to kill people that they do. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/69 "2025-03-10T13:18:35Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Singapur would dispute that claim. Is this a new official rendering of the name like Czechia is? It’s gone unremarked by a couple posters in this thread, so I feel like I missed a memo. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/70 "2025-03-10T13:32:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Is this a new official rendering of the name like Czechia is? They’re clearly referring to [Singapur](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapur_(album)), the album by Estonian band Terminaator. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/71 "2025-03-10T14:05:21Z")
Would a guillotine (or sword, axe, or any instrument for beheading) be any more merciful? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/72 "2025-03-10T14:08:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Is this a new official rendering of the name like Czechia is? It’s gone unremarked by a couple posters in this thread, so I feel like I missed a memo. I believe M. @Pardel-Lux is French, and has a habit of reverting to the French spelling of countries’ names. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/73 "2025-03-10T14:21:20Z")
Oh, I thought I saw another poster also use that spelling. I guess just the same poster twice. I really had thought I missed a spelling change. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/74 "2025-03-10T14:31:08Z")
> [@CNN](#): > > Death by firing squad could become Idaho’s primary method of execution under a bill headed to the governor’s desk this week. With all those firing squads needed, they might have _no choice_, but to start letting people buy a place in one of the squads and/or film it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/75 "2025-03-10T14:48:47Z")
[Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.](https://lithub.com/on-the-iconic-first-line-of-one-hundred-years-of-solitude/) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/76 "2025-03-10T14:57:26Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Would a guillotine (or sword, axe, or any instrument for beheading) be any more merciful? Part of the point of the guillotine was to remove the issue of human error (or a thick neck or a rubbish blade) requiring _multiple_ hits. (Beheading was itself considered the “nobler” form of execution before reliable firearms came around.) ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/77 "2025-03-10T15:07:04Z")
German and Spanish actually, but yes, spellingly challenged. My bad. > [@Johanna](#): > > […] was to remember that distant afternoon […] That distant **summer** afternoon, I am quite sure. Beautiful beginning, I still know it by heart (in Spanish, of course). ---
**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 10, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/78 "2025-03-10T15:10:34Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > With all those firing squads needed, they might have _no choice_, but to start letting people buy a place in one of the squads and/or film it. …and put those people on a lifetime watch list, if they’re smart. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/79 "2025-03-10T15:17:01Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > > [@Johanna](#): > > > > […] was to remember that distant afternoon […] > > That distant **summer** afternoon, I am quite sure. Beautiful beginning, I still know it by heart (in Spanish, of course). That’s really ironic since that article is all about how seasons don’t exist in the tropics! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/80 "2025-03-10T15:42:58Z")
I stand corrected, again. The original: > Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel > Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su > padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo. Macondo era entonces una aldea de > veinte casas de barro y cañabrava construidas a la orilla de un río de > aguas diáfanas que se precipitaban por un lecho de piedras pulidas, > blancas y enormes como huevos prehistóricos. El mundo era tan > reciente, que muchas cosas carecían de nombre, y para mencionarlas > había que señalarías con el dedo. No summer there, my memory is playing tricks with me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273.md?page=5)