How does a firing squad execution work and why is it used?

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1. 1

   The Firing Squad as "A Known and Available Alternative Method of Execution" Post-Glossip

   University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform (Denno)Published Jan 1, 2016Checked Oct 15, 2026

   “Nor does it question the soundness of the Glossip Court’s “alternative method of execution” requirement. Rather, this Article’s proposed reform is a constitutionally acceptable alternative that meets the Glossip Court’s standard, rendering moot—at least for the purposes of the following discussion—very real concerns regarding the validity of that dictate. Part I of this Article pinpoints several areas where the Glossip Court goes wrong in glaringly inaccurate or misleading ways, given the vast history and literature on execution methods and their changes from the nineteenth century through the start of the twenty-first century. Part II analyzes the Court’s “known and available alternative method of execution” standard as defined by both the majority opinion and Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent. Part III proposes that the firing squad is the most viable “known and available alternative” that meets the delineations, however meager, outlined by the Court. Indeed, the firing squad is the only current form of execution involving trained professionals, and it delivers a swift and certain death.”

2. 2

   No Clean Hands in a Dirty Business: Firing Squads and the Euphemism of "Evolving Standards of Decency"

   Vanderbilt law review (Vey)Published Mar 1, 2016Checked Oct 15, 2026

   “na.18 Others have considered returning to older methods, like electrocution or lethal gas, as supplies of lethal injection drugs dwindle.19 But the frantic search for alternatives avoids the real problem with the modern use of the death penalty: a preference for euphemism.Modern society prefers to couch its discussion of capital punishment in what Albert Camus called padded words to avoid examin[ing] the penalty in reality.20 The American public typically knows little about how capital punishment works in practice, allowing the euphemism to continue unabated.21 Indeed, developing experiential barriers to the realities of capital punishment defines the history of the death penalty in America, as the public seeks to forget the death penalty's nature as a raw expression of state power carried out on the public's behalf.22 In constructing these barriers, the public is more concerned with whether execution seems humane-say, through appearing like a medical procedure, as lethal injection does- than with whether it actually is humane.23 And as long as it remains easy to see condemned defendants as subhuman monsters that deserve it,24 it is easy to avoid examining the issue more closely. …”

3. 3

   Medical Aspects of Capital Punishment Executions

   Journal of Forensic Sciences (Khan & Leventhal)Published Jul 1, 2002Checked Oct 15, 2026

   “Between 1976 and the middle of 2001, approximately 718 human executions occurred in the U.S. (a small segment of worldwide executions). Data regarding the medical aspects of these executions are not readily available. We searched all public domain data in the U.S. to obtain specific data for all persons executed in the U.S. since 1976. Of the five methods of execution used (lethal injection, lethal gas, electrocution, hanging, and firing squad), significant differences emerged as measured by rate of complications, duration of time spent by the condemned in the "death chamber," as well as duration of time from the onset of execution procedures to pronouncement of death. These data suggest that human executions are difficult to carry out. Human executions are associated with significant physical complications. These data may help inform future discussions on human executions.”

4. 4

   A Modest Proposal: The Federal Government Should Use Firing Squads to Execute Federal Death Row Inmates

   University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository (University of Miami) (Moran)Published Jan 1, 2019Checked Oct 15, 2026

   “The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment in the criminal justice system. As the federal government looks to reinstate the death penalty, this Note argues that it should include firing squad as an option for carrying out executions. While firing squads may shock the senses, this Note argues that they are in fact the only way to comport with the requirements of the Eighth Amendment.”

5. 5

   Nothing Less than the Dignity of Man: Evolving Standards, Botched Executions and Utah's Controversial Use of the Firing Squad

   EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University (Cleveland State University) (Cutler)Published Jan 1, 2003Checked Oct 15, 2026

   “While outrage boils to the surface when Utah uses its firing squad option, there is little substantive legal development concerning the firing squad's use. Few cases have challenged the firing squad's constitutionality. This article discusses the legal and political implications of the firing squad. Using the Supreme Court's everdeveloping Eighth Amendment jurisprudence as a guide, this article discusses whether the firing squad, both historically and in its present application, passes constitutional muster. Beyond those factors that trigger constitutional protection, this article discusses those elements of the firing squad's use which define society's humanity and demonstrate our dignity. In the end, those factors are framed and fashioned by each individual's view of decency and dignity.”

6. 6

   Trump calls off livestream of Fort Hood attacker's execution by firing squad

   BBC NewsPublished Oct 15, 2026Checked Oct 15, 2026

   “Trump said some would "rather not watch" the killing of Nidal Hasan, the first military execution in over 60 years.”