Utah’s legislators want to bring back the firing squad as its method of executing criminals.

Well, I won’t comment so much on that decision, except to reaffirm my opposition to capital punishment.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/utah-set-to-bring-back-death-sentence-by-firing-squad/ar-AA9DpqR

Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, has the option of vetoing the bill that sits on his desk. I have no clue what he’ll do with it. Death penalty foes have condemned lawmakers’ decision to bring back the firing squad.

This method of killing capital criminals, though, has produced a strange fascination on at least one aspect of the way it is carried out.

The firing squad comprises several shooters. One of them is given a blank round. The state doesn’t not tell which of the shooters is firing the blank. My understanding is that the blank round is intended to provide some semblance of doubt as to whether a shooter actually fired a bullet that killed the person who is executed.

But the practice does make me wonder about something. Anyone who’s ever shot a blank round from a rifle, as well as a live round, knows that the blank produces significantly less “kick” than the live round. So, when you shoot the blank, the weapon you use is going to recoil a good bit less than it would if you shoot an actual bullet.

Thus, the question: Does the blank round inserted into an unknown gun actually cast sufficient doubt on which of the shooters fired the blank?

Whatever. As Ralph Dellapiana, head of Utahns for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said: “I think Utah took a giant step backward.” He added that firing squads are “a relic of a more barbaric past.”