Salt Lake City, Utah--A bill to bring back firing squads for executions in Utah was moved forward by a legislative committee Wednesday.
Rep. Paul Ray (R-Utah) said his bill would allow use of firing squads as a back-up to lethal injections for death row inmates in the state.
Utah made firing squads illegal in 2003. The last execution using it was in 2010--the prisoner had been grandfathered in, and chose it personally.
Ray argued that the method is more humane. Some of the state's death row inmates seem to agree: at least three of the eight have opted to use it.
For the rest, firing squad would only be used if lethal injection were unavailable once they're appeals are exhausted--and only if the bill passes.
