The United States is facing a shortage of lethal drugs. That’s not much of a problem, unless you want drugs to kill people, which many states do. Lethal drugs are manufactured in Europe, where companies suffering a crisis of conscience are refusing to sell them to America. That’s a problem for places like Texas, which only has enough drugs for two more lethal injections (both of which are on the table for next week.)
It’s not a problem for Utah yet, but it could become one, and Utah is getting proactive about it by doing things the old fashioned way. Lawmakers have approved a bill that would bring back the firing squad, and Utah Governor Gary Herbert is trying to make up his mind about whether or not to sign it. If he does, that’s not to say that Utah would start using a firing squad—only that they would have the legal option to. Just in case.
