The Utah Senate passed a bill on Tuesday to allow the state to execute prisoners by firing squad should there ever be a shortage in the state's lethal injection drug inventory.
The bill barely made it through the Utah House in February, when additional lawmakers had to come in and break a tie, but it made it through the Senate with no debate, passing on an 18-10 vote.
As The New York Times reported, Utah, along with several other states, has been working to modify its execution laws due to a number of botched executions and shortages of drugs used in lethal injections. Following those flubbed executions last year in Oklahoma and Arizona, in which one man took two hours to die, many European manufacturers are refusing to sell the lethal injection chemicals to prisons, citing humanitarian issues.
The sponsor of the Utah bill, Republican Rep. Paul Ray, told The Associated Press that he hopes death by firing squad will be a more humane form of execution that can prevent drawn-out deaths as sometimes seen with lethal injections.
"We would love to get the lethal injection worked out so we can continue with that but if not, now we have a backup plan," Ray said.
Critics of the measure say that firing squads will lead to international backlash.
"I think Utah took a giant step backward," Ralph Dellapiana, director of Utahns for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, told the AP, calling firing squads "a relic of a more barbaric past."
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert refused to say whether he plans to veto the bill, but a decision is expected to be made in a week or so, according to AP. If he does sign it into law, Utah will become the only state to allow firing squads in the event of a lethal injection drug shortage.
Arkansas also introduced firing squad legislation this year, but a similar measure in Wyoming died. Oklahoma lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the use of nitrogen gas for executions.
