South Carolina moves closer to allowing death by firing squad

South Carolina lawmakers have passed a bill to allow inmates on death row to be executed by firing squad in the absence of lethal injection drugs.

When signed into law, it will make South Carolina the fourth state in the country to offer the option as a method of capital punishment.

Opponents criticised the new measure as “medieval” but its supporters say it is about bringing closure to victims.

The southern state has not held an execution since 2011.

The legislation passed by the South Carolina House of Representatives aims to restart executions by bypassing the difficulties states face in procuring the drugs for a lethal injection cocktail.

It will go to the state’s Senate for a final vote before heading to Republican Governor Henry McMaster, who has vowed to sign the bill “as soon as it gets to my desk”.

“We are one step closer to providing victims’ families and loved ones with the justice and closure they are owed by law,” he wrote on Twitter.

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The state currently has 37 death row prisoners. The bill may yet face a court challenge.

Why do lawmakers want to legalize death by firing squad?

South Carolina currently offers death row inmates the choice to die either by lethal injection or in the electric chair. Inmates cannot be forced to die by a method they did not choose.

All but three executed convicts have opted for the former – a three-drug combo that puts prisoners to sleep, induces paralysis and then stops the heart – since it was first introduced in 1995.

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