Mississippi legislature approves firing squad as means of execution

By Brian Seay

The execution chamber in Utah where 49-year-old Ronnie Lee Gardner was put to death by firing squad in 2010. (Photo: Trent Nelson/Association Press)
Lawmakers in Mississippi sent Gov. Phil Bryant a bill Tuesday that would enact death by firing squad as a means of capital punishment.
House Bill 638 is meant to give the state options for the death penalty, in the event lethal injection and other means of execution are ruled unconstitutional. Bryant has said he would support a measure that includes the firing squad option.
Fusillading would be the final option for the state under the measure, which would only allow the method if lethal injection, nitrogen gas, and electrocution are ruled unconstitutional, in that order. Attorney General Jim Hood asked lawmakers to pass such a measure last year. A similar bill circulated through the Mississippi legislature in 2016, but the firing squad language was removed before the bill passed.
“It’s been one of the more common practices through history,” said bill sponsor Robert Foster, talking about firing squads last year. “It’s very instant and about as humane as you can get while performing an execution in my personal opinion.”
Last month, the Mississippi House passed a new version of the bill, but

Source: Guns.com