[url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,87600,00.html]Fox news article[/url]

"One of the five rifles will contain a blank so that no one will know who fired the fatal shots".

I have heard this since I was a little kid, and always struck me as dumb. Somebody who knows guns and doesn't know if he just shot a live round or not? Or do they shoot .22 LR, which has almost non-existent recoil?

Or maybe the guards are so nervous (or whatever) that they can't tell the difference?

Any idea on what kind of rifle/caliber they use for this deed?

I lived in Utah the last time they executed someone by firing squad in 1996.

The rifles were 30.06 hunting rifles.  The shooters were selected by the state DPS.

The criminal on death row had to opt for the firing squad option, since the default is lethal injection.

The criminal was placed (bound?) in a chair.  A doctor found his heart with a stethescope and pinned a target over it.

The five shooters fired a single shot each upon the command of an officer.

The criminal died in seconds.

All of the above was witnessed by a few media persons and other witnesses.

Prior to the executions, there was a move in the Legislature to change the law and remove the firing squad option, but after the actual execution occurred without much fuss, the move faded away.

Personally, I think that the death comes very quick and I don't think that the impact of four 30.06 bullets allows for much pain or time to feel any pain.  Most people who have been shot say that their first sensation was shock, followed after some time by pain.  I don't believe that this amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

are these public?

i'd go see a firing squad execution.

I'd pay to be one of the shooters.  It would feel good sending scum like these two to meet their makers.

When I fell and crushed my heel the first thing I remember feeling while laying on the ground was a needles and pins sensation in my heel, much like you get when your arm or leg falls a sleep. After that came numbness and a hot rushing/swelling sensation in my heel. IIRC, I didn't feel any pain until three or four minutes later.  I would assume shock works the same way on any serious injury.

good ol' Utah

I actually had an experience quite the opposite.  I fell from a 2 story building and landed solidly on my feet.  I knew instantly that I had broken my back because of the terrible pain that I felt right when it happened.  Maybe the pain was just enough to feel it and not enough to push me into shock?  I really dont know.  Wow, that was a lot of thinking out loud.  Anyway, I'm all for firing squad. If thats what the inmate wants, I don't even se where the issue lies.

In the moment I dont know if they could tell. I doubt it. Interesting day at work.

No idea if they use soft points, or FMJ? I don't think it would make a difference, not with 4 slamming at you at the same time in the same spot.

they should use full-auto on the scumbags.  fuck them all.

lethal injection shouldnt be a choice. they should be:

1. firing squad
2. hanging
3. electric chair
4. drowning
5. stoning (maybe not this. too middle eastern. unless the criminal was middle eastern and requests this because of "tradition".)
6. burning

That's the main reason they are not.

Where are Bru and Tat?

Good opportunity for some more ballistics testing! (ok. I know I'm a sick, sick man.) But ya know... Utah could make a fortune on Pay-per-view.

God have mercy on them.

--LS

I'm with you Redray-

I'd like to see public hanging's.  People will see what will happen to them if they commit a capital crime...i.e., Murder, Rape, etc....

HEART SHOT??  just wondering...why not a head shot?

Head shot = too messy!

So the scum sucking, puss nuts, gerbil abusing, cocksucker can SAVOR the sensation of a 30.06 round thudding into threir chest, fragmenting their sternum, shredding their miserable heart with copper, lead, and bone before they feel the next sensation of their spine shattering and being pushed out of their back.....and they can have the final thought of "Oops, maybe I shouldn't have done what I did", before they lose brain activity.    

I have seen exit wounds on deer from .270, 30-06 and 30-30....the 30-30 even exits with a rather large chunk.  I can't imagine it being much different on a human (or sub-human)

Skip the full auto idea  tooo quick....with a 9mm (rounds as light as you can manage)  one into each foot/ankle,  one into each knee,  double tap to crotch, one to gut,  one to heart,  one to throat, one to forehead with a pause between shots.   10 rounds...could even use a post ban mag for that....

I still don't know how the heck a 30.06 blank is supposed to recoil in a similar fashion as a real live round, therefore keeping it a mystery who shot it...

I would favor head shots with 55gr ballistic tips, if only for the entertainment value.

You'd think they'd invent a machine to fire the weapons, so as to not require a person to be the shooter.

public executions used to be very popular entertainment for the masses, but they often got out of hand as well.  Riots sometimes resulted and appeasing the crowd often lead to unwarranted executions.

Burning is a particularly horrible way to die.  Even suggesting it shows a serious cruel streak, or painful ignorance. It can take a LONG time for a person to die in extreme pain from burning.  Even shovelling them live into a blast furnace would not kill them as quickly and painlessly as a firing squad, hanging, the electric chair or lethal injection.

In the middle ages, they used to burn heretics because it gave them a taste of the fires of Hell and gave them an opportunity to repent in the time before they died.  A particularly skilled torturer could keep the fires at bay long enough to bake the person slowly while still alive.  They actually died of suffocation eventually as their lungs were scorched from the hot air.  Then their lungs either flooded with fluids or ceased to function well enough to provide enough oxygen to the brain.

Get your head fixed.  The point of execution is not to torture the person to death, but to put them out of their own and everyone else's misery.  It's more moral and ethical to do it fast.

I would be too tempted to be creative with shot placement.

From what I have been told the reason Utah still has firing squad as an option has something to do with Mormonism and spilling blood to atone for certain sins, anyone know if this is correct?

According to the Fox article it is:

"Utah's use of firing squads predates statehood in 1896 and is a remnant of the early Mormon belief that bloodshed is a required punishment for taking a life, said Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which says it is neutral about the death penalty but critical of its application."