Firing Squad Back in Utah? Bill Passed Declaring Firing Squad as Valid Mode of Execution

The Republican-controlled Utah legislature has passed a bill that declares firing squad as the next mode of execution if lethal injection drugs are unavailable.

This makes Utah the only U.S. state to have firing squad as a method of executing prisoners on death row.

In a vote of 18 to 10, the Utah Senate passed Utah House Bill 11 that "provides that if substances are not available to carry out the death penalty by lethal injection on the date specified by warrant, the death penalty shall be carried out by firing squad."

The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Paul Ray, modifies the Utah Code of Criminal Procedure.

He said a prisoner executed by firing squad will die in three to five seconds. "It's a quick bleed-out," he said, according to Reuters.

It is not yet known whether Utah Gov. Gary Herbert will sign or veto the bill.

According to the bill, firing squad will be used as a method of execution "if the sentencing court determines the state is unable to lawfully obtain the substance or substances necessary to conduct an execution by lethal intravenous injection 30 or more days prior to the date specified in the warrant issued upon a judgment of death."

If a court finds that executing a prisoner by lethal injection is unconstitutional, firing squad will be used instead.

For firing squad, the executive director of the Utah Department of Corrections will designate five peace officers to carry it out.

Any execution will be "carried out at a secure correctional facility operated by the department and at an hour determined by the department on the date specified in the warrant," the bill read.

The last execution by firing squad in Utah was carried out in 2010 in the case of Ronnie Lee Gardner, a convicted murderer, according to Reuters.