Missouri lawmakers have introduced a bill that would allow firing squads to perform executions on death row inmates.
The proposal gives death row inmates an additional option, apart from lethal injections and lethal gas, according to WYSO.
The bill comes at a time of uncertainty for lethal injection supplies - on Friday, a Missouri inmate on death row accused the state of improperly storing pentobarbital acquired by an Oklahoma pharmacy that allegedly isn't licensed to do business across state lines. Additionally, records indicate that Missouri officials gave fatal doses of pentobarbital to two death row inmates after the drug had expired eight or ten days prior.
Wyoming Senator Bruce Burns, who publicly supports the legislation, said the firing squad is a favorable alternative because the gas chamber - the other option for inmates on death row - costs the state too much money.
"One of the reasons I chose firing squad as opposed to any other form of execution is because, frankly, it's one of the cheapest for the state," Burns stated. "The expense of building a gas chamber, I think, would be prohibitive when you consider how many people would be executed by it."
Not all senators are backing the measure. Missouri senator Claire McCaskill tweeted her distaste for the proposed legislation shortly after it was introduced.
"Not my state's finest moment," McCaskill posted.
