Does the recent execution by firing squad in Utah tell us anything?

[Balrog]

The condemned man was shot in the chest at 20 feet by 5 men with 30-30 caliber rifles. It took him 2.5 minutes to die.

The condemned was probably incapacitated nearly immediately, but it goes to show how tough the human body can be.

Even a high powered rifle (or in this case, 5 of them) does not guarantee immediate death.

 

[killchain]

Tells me that Utah isn't screwing around.

 

[JoeMal]

I also read that he welcomed the shooting and in fact was almost proud to be executed this way. Maybe this played a role in how long he stuck around after being shot.

 

[fiddleharp]

I guess the main thing it told me is that it took place about 25 years too late.

 

[ahpd1992]

why no head shots? I guess the witnesses wouldnt want to see the carnage. I would rather have a firing squad then electrocution

 

[Badlander]

45-70 would have cured that problem!

 

[jhco]

Yes, don't murder anyone!

 

[RyanM]

It would take about 3-4 minutes for the brain to die, even if you chopped off someone's head, so 2.5 minutes is probably about right. It's how long someone stays conscious and willing to fight that matters more.

 

[Yoda]

Tells me some things about US

I guess the main things the rare execution by firing squad tells me are:

* Americans seem to favor "humane" forms of execution, but our definition of "humane" actually seems to translate into methods that do not involve visible damage to the subject's body. It would have been far more humane to go with head shots (or even decapitation), but that is not part of the protocol; not because it would cause more pain and suffering to the subject, but because it would distrub us.

* There may be some "preference" for lethal injection among those about to be executed, for roughly the similar reasons that the public in general favors "humane" forms of execution. It is supposedly painless, and it does not cause visible bodily damage.

* There may be a certain personality that prefers death by firing squad. I would suspect that such individuals would tend to be more chronically violent than the average slub who murders someone in a moment of passion or without premeditation. I wonder if going out in a "blaze of glory" would have more appeal to hard-core gang members, if executions by firing squad actually became more common.

* There was at least one case in Viet Nam where a soldier took an AK round in the heart, with the bullet actually remaining in the heart, but the medics and doctors saved his life. Multiple rifle shots to the chest will normally be lethal unless treated, but they can in no way be relied upon to immediately incapacitate someone in every case.

* This reinforces the old tanker adage: Keep shooting until the target catches fire or changes shape.

- - - Yoda

 

[BeerSleeper]

I like the way Oyeboten put it in this thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=528905&page=2, post 32

At least a Firing Squad lets the condemned Man die Like a Man, and for it to be approximately instant, whatever his misdemeanors past.

This shows more self respect for the Society which decides to execute him, than, a 'lethal injection', 'gas chamber' or 'electrocution' or 'hanging' would.

The gesture is direct, forthright, effecient, and offers nothing to mystify or soften what is being done...nor to embarass or shame the person by prolongueing the rebuke in dragging things out.

I think it's a more humane way to do it, than other, more PC methods of execution, and I salute the state of Utah for having the boldness to do it.

Fast. Efficient. Done.

 

[Webbj0219]

Yes, don't murder anyone!

The way I see it is there is a difference between murder and justice. I believe in capital punishment for murder and that its not murder in itself. Its justice. If you live by the sword then you die by the sword or an eye for an eye. That kinda justice. If you take a life than you need to give a life, your own.

Just my own veiws on capital punishment. Yours are probable different? Or baybe i misconstrued your post? Did you mean that the guy that was executed shouldnt have murdered? Or that he shouldnt have been executed?

Anyways the OP was about the means used for the execution. Firing squad seems pretty unconventional in the united states. I dont know if Id prefere that to lethal injection. Also shows how the gun isnt a magic talisman. Sometimes it will kill instantly and sometimes it only wounds. All that is for certain is that being shot will cause some considerable internal damage. But wether or not it will stop a charging attacker before they can harm you isnt as certain.

 

[Badlander]

Victims families are not as concerned about humane execution as is the public.

 

[Hacker15E]

Why does a murderer even have any right to "die like a man".

Seems to me that he's all ready given away any position from which such a death would be warranted.

Personally, I'd rather see him die on his knees, begging for mercy, shown the same humanity he showed the two men he murdered.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

This thread can't go anywhere but downhill.