# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/101 "2025-03-11T02:48:54Z")
Not France, but comparatively, “Jumpin Jim” Gavin, Army Rangers, performed reconnaissance into Rome when it was still in Nazi control while the allies were stuck at Anzio. Rome, where kids were selling their sisters, much less some high-value American. Gavin preferred to recruit shorter men for the paratroops, reasoning that their balls were closer to their brains. ---
**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 11, 2025, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/102 "2025-03-11T02:54:25Z")
Moderating: > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > We have an injunction on this message board to attack the post, not the poster. It’s a curious thing, in some cases. Like yours. Yes, we do, and you are violating it with this post. The post you were replying to was about what the nation, the US, does, not about what individual citizens do, certainly not about SDMB posters. Your post, on the other hand, is deeply personal and attacked another poster. Please don’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/103 "2025-03-11T02:56:05Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > You obviously live inside an invisible line wherein the State doesn’t kill its members, Huh? I live in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/104 "2025-03-11T03:10:49Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > But if barbarians like the US are going to do it, do it quickly. I’m in the US too. I’m not a barbarian. I resent the association. I’ll suffer “suicide by mod” on that point. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/105 "2025-03-11T03:16:26Z")
To circle back to the comments about why the family members of the victim should/shouldn’t be allowed to carry out the execution - it turns out that’s actually a thing in Iran. The family of a murder victim has the option of pardoning the killer or accepting financial restitution in exchange for mercy, but if they decide to go forward with it a member of the family is offered the opportunity to carry out the execution or hire someone to do it. > **[Capital punishment in Iran | Qesas crimes (murder)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Iran#Qesas_crimes_(murder))** > > In Sharia law, a qesas crime is a class of crime that can be punished by retribution. The Sharia crime of intentional murder (ghatl-e-amd) is one crime punished by qesas, which in this case is a life for a life. > Diyyeh is a private settlement claim between the victim's family and the perpetrator. The victim's family has the option to forgive the criminal by accepting diyya (a financial settlement to compensate for the family's loss) rather than allowing the perpetrator to be executed. Because mu... > **[Public executions in Iran | Islamic Republic of Iran (1979–present)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_executions_in_Iran#Islamic_Republic_of_Iran_(1979%E2%80%93present))** > > Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the establishment of the Islamic Republic, public executions became commonplace. The overwhelming majority of public executions were carried out by hanging. Often cranes mounted on trucks served as makeshift gallows. The condemned, and in some cases multiple prisoners, generally stood on a platform before a crowd in a stadium or square. The prisoner was lifted high off the ground by crane, with the rope around their neck, leading to a slower death by s... Iran kills a lot more people than we do and for a lot more reasons than we do, but to a certain extent that aspect of their approach seems slightly more civilized. ---
**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 11, 2025, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/106 "2025-03-11T09:06:08Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > How could he be in France before D-Day? Our suspicion is that he was (as noted above) in the OSS and was sent to help the Resistance with D-Day prep. We’ll never know for sure since he’s gone and his Army records were “lost in a fire” according to the DOD. They had enough to show he joined and was honorably discharged in early '45…and nothing in between. ---
**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 11, 2025, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/107 "2025-03-11T11:37:25Z")
Fascinating. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/108 "2025-03-11T12:51:57Z")
That scans with the letters never having been sent. They couldn’t be at the time and then he never got around to it ---
**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 11, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/109 "2025-03-11T13:26:39Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > and his Army records were “lost in a fire” according to the DOD. A lot of records _were_ lost in a fire. > **[National Personnel Records Center fire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Personnel_Records_Center_fire)** > > The National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973, also known as the 1973 National Archives fire, was a fire that occurred at the Military Personnel Records Center (MPRC) in the St. Louis suburb of Overland, Missouri, from July 12–16, 1973. > The fire destroyed some 16 million to 18 million official U.S. military personnel records. The MPRC, the custodian of U.S. military service records, is part of the National Personnel Records Center, an agency of the National Archives and Records Administra... ---
**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 11, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/110 "2025-03-11T13:33:18Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Iran kills a lot more people than we do and for a lot more reasons than we do, but to a certain extent that aspect of their approach seems slightly more civilized. Oh, sure, Iran is _super_ civilized! They even recognize crimes against the community - you know, like adultery, or being gay - and then _everyone_ can participate in the execution! Fun for the whole family! Of course, we should be fair, here. One of the Ayatollahs issued a moratorium on stonings, so now they are pretty rare, only being carried out when the case comes before a particularly conservative judge who disagrees with the Ayatollah on this issue. Besides - considering how controversial cash _bail_ is becoming, I doubt we are going to find much acceptance of the idea that a murderer can buy their way out of a death penalty as long as they’re rich enough to make the victim’s family go along with it… ---
**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 11, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/111 "2025-03-11T13:37:18Z")
> The family of a murder victim has the option of pardoning the killer or accepting financial restitution in exchange for mercy What if the criminal doesn’t have any cash? String him up? So wealthier murderers have a better chance of surviving? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/112 "2025-03-11T13:43:39Z")
In the early internet days I stupidly watched a video of an Iranian woman being stoned to death supposedly for adultery or being accused of it. A couple of dozen men took part while more watched. It was horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/113 "2025-03-11T14:28:03Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > The family of a murder victim has the option of pardoning the killer or accepting financial restitution in exchange for mercy > > What if the criminal doesn’t have any cash? String him up? So wealthier murderers have a better chance of surviving? Sounds like weregild, which is hardly a uniquely Iranian concept. I imagine the purpose was historically to create a path to closing things rather than risk a blood feud. I do not know about Iranian jurisprudence, but it is probably inspired by classical (pre-)Islamic concepts of a life for a life, an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, etc., where moreover the Qur’an itself explicitly encourages mercy. It does not say anything about being able to buy justice off, but the point is that they are not talking about the state, this is something to be worked out between the perpetrator’s people and the victim’s people. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2025, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/114 "2025-03-11T16:50:12Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > > [@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 I would rather die standing up. Brad Sigmon was strapped to a chair. > [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Which makes me wonder. Three or four rifles aimed at one’s head have a better chance at a _quick_ death than aimed at one’s heart, but the result’s a lot messier. Have firing squads ever intentionally aimed for the head? ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/115 "2025-03-11T18:18:54Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > [@themapleleaf](#): > > > > > [@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 I would rather die standing up. > > Brad Sigmon was strapped to a chair. Point taken, you’re correct. I have seen the diagram of this execution. Even so, I’d rather die facing rifles than being strapped to a bed and having someone inject me with poison. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/116 "2025-03-11T18:30:47Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Which makes me wonder. Three or four rifles aimed at one’s head have a better chance at a _quick_ death than aimed at one’s heart, but the result’s a lot messier. Have firing squads ever intentionally aimed for the head? Ever heard of _coup de grace_? If the initial volley of shots doesn’t kill the victim instantly, he gets a shot to the head. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/117 "2025-11-15T01:30:52Z")
Another execution today: > **[South Carolina executes killer who left bloody message, marking third...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-bryant-south-carolina-firing-squad-execution-death/)** > > Stephen Bryant, 44, was executed for killing a man in his home and writing "catch me if u can" on the wall with the victim's blood. > Stephen Bryant, 44, was executed for killing a man in his home and writing “catch me if u can” on the wall with the victim’s blood. (Ron Howard voice) They could. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/118 "2025-11-15T01:35:44Z")
> Three prison employees, all with live ammunition, volunteered to carry out the execution. That’s just wrong. Not only would I not participate in the execution of another human being, I would not even recommend the death penalty if I were on a jury. Not that I lose much sleep over deserving people getting dead, but it’s not something I would want on _my_ soul. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2025, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/119 "2025-11-15T14:25:35Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Larry Niven pictured a future where capital punishment was being disassembled for parts. The convict was sedated into unconsciousness and placed into a robotic device that first chilled them to nearly frozen temperatures, then executed them by extracting their heart first. The brain was cremated and the only component trated as remains for burial or whatnot. The rest was systematically disassembed and preserved for transplantation. _Gary Larson mode_ **ON** : **Oscar Mayer** pictured a future where capital punishment was being disassembled for parts. The convict was sedated into unconsciousness and placed into a robotic device that first chilled them to nearly frozen temperatures, then executed them by extracting their heart first. The brain was cremated and the only component trated as remains for burial or whatnot. The rest was systematically disassembed and preserved for transplantation. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273/120 "2025-11-15T14:49:49Z")
In 1913, Nevada couldn’t find five men willing to form a firing squad for [Andriza Mircovich,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andriza_Mircovich) so they rigged an automatic system. Similarly, Tom Horn was hanged with a hangman-less gallows that was triggered when he stepped on the trapdoor and started weight exchange of draining water. Self-administered execution offers some measure of dignity/bravado. Socrates showed that when he calmly drank the hemlock (although when initially asked his choice of punishment, he proposed free meals for life) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-execution-by-firing-squad/1015273.md?page=7)