Lack of lethal injection, firing squad can again be used in the U.S.

After boycotting by European manufacturers, two states have been moving toward more ''viable'' methods for capital punishment. In at least two U.S. states, lawmakers are considering reintroducing "death by firing squad" as a method to execute prisoners sentenced to death. Firing squads would be the most viable and inexpensive option.

The motivation for bringing back the technique long sidelined in much of the world is economic: the U.S. is struggling to import the drug contained in the lethal injection . Firing squads would be the most viable and inexpensive option.

The states of Missouri and Wyoming already give evidence that there may be legislative proposals accordingly. State Representative Paul Fitzwater, of Missouri, said he "has the victims in mind" to support change in legislation. "People look to the prisoners that will be seen as victims. But the real victims have no voice because they are dead," he told a local newspaper.

A Wyoming Senator also went public to support the reintegration of firing squads where constitutional issues prevent the execution by lethal injection.

"One of the reasons I chose firing squad and not any other way is because, frankly, it is the cheapest option for the government," says Bruce Burns. "I believe that the costs of building a gas chamber are prohibitive when considering the number of people who would be executed, or even the price of guillotines."
The state of Utah is the only one to have practised firing squad as a method of execution. It has done this three times since 1977, and the last time was in 2010, when Ronnie Lee Gardner voluntarily opted for the technique.

European manufacturers, the suppliers of a traditional substance used to execute prisoners painlessly in the U.S.  began to boycott the sale of the drug for moral reasons, according to the RT site. To try to circumvent the lack of  a product, authorities of states adopting the death penalty came into contact with the U.S. pharmaceutical industry to use an untested mixture of drugs available.

The controversial method, however, a combination of powerful sedatives and analgesics, is yet to be approved. In recent days, the debate has been intense in the country after an unsuccessful event in Ohio last Saturday (18/01) in which the arrested Dennis McGuire took 26 minutes to die. According to AP, was the longest of the 53 executions since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1999.

Translated from the Portuguese version of Pravda.Ru
Olga Santos

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