Utah to bring back firing squads

by cofty 22 Replies latest social current

• 

  TD

  4 days ago

  It's (arguably) par for the course for a country that was founded by religious zealots known for their tolerance of violence.
  

  Maybe a little historical context would be helpful?
  

  One year before the Jamestown colony was founded, Guy Fawkes had escaped the execution planned for him by jumping off of the Westminster gallows the instant the rope was placed around his neck.

  The penalty for treason against the Crown at the time was to be strangled until nearly unconscious but not quite and then disemboweled while still alive. The body would then be divided into quarters to be displayed in various prominent places as a warning to others.One hundred and seventy years later, that was still the penalty for treason, (On paper at least) which is why John Hancock's big, flowery signature on the Declaration of Independence was considered something extraordinary.

  So when you look at a mid 19th century painting of early 17th century Puritans going to church, it's probably good to remember that this was violent period in history irrespective of religion and not just confined to the Colonies.
  

  
  
• 

  cofty

  Yeah but the Puritans were batshit crazy even by 17th Century standards.
• 

  Giordano

  The electric chair could fry a person to death if there was a malfunction.

  The gas chamber was pretty hideous sitting in that chamber looking at people through the window looking back at you.......... everybody waiting for the gas to suck the life out of you.

  Being strapped down on a table mainlining some poison cocktail that may or may not work as designed. Forget quick and forget painless.

  The hangman's noose........ hope the hangman got it right but you still got that drop to contend with. All of these ways to kill a human being were used to spare peoples sensibilities and perhaps to try to be humane.
  

  I'd prefer the firing squad. If it's good enough for the French foreign legion it's good enough for me. Number one it's dignified. You get to stand or sit looking the squad in the eye if they give you a choice about not wearing the mask, your biggest concern is trying not to piss your pants. You wait for Ready Aim Fire and in a split second a supersonic bullet pierces your heart. You might not even hear the re in fire.That's about as human as it's going to get.

  Of course I'd be an innocent man.....just so you'd know.