New bill would make firing squad Arizona’s main method of execution
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Could all executions in Arizona be carried out by firing squad?
That’s one step closer to reality after a bill made it through a House committee this week.
HCR 2024 would amend the state constitution and would execute inmates on death row by firing squad instead of lethal injection.
However, the 10 death row inmates who committed crimes before November 23, 1992, would have the choice of a firing squad or gas chamber, losing the lethal injection choice they have now under the measure.
The House Regulatory Oversight Committee approved the proposal along party lines on Tuesday.
Arizona has 112 death row inmates.
Firing squad as a means of execution has been in the headlines more and more.
On Friday, a South Carolina man chose death by firing squad for his planned execution in two weeks.
“It really does bring the reality of executions, it hits hard. And I don’t know if Arizona is ready for a firing squad,” said Barrett Marson, a former public information officer for the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.
Arizona also has its first execution in two years scheduled for next month but by lethal injection
“No one has picked the gas chamber, and if you do not pick between lethal injection and gas chamber, it’s automatically lethal injection,” said Marson.
As it stands now, Arizona inmates are executed by lethal injection, which Marson said is often viewed as more humane than what would be a violent, bloody, and loud death.
“I witnessed four executions by lethal injection and quite frankly, you didn’t even know the inmate was deceased,” said Marson.
But others say lethal injections are flawed, and Arizona found itself front and center of that debate.
In 2014, a botched lethal injection execution of Joseph Wood caused him to gasp for air for two hours before dying, a procedure that should have only taken about 10 minutes.
That led to an eight-year hiatus for executions.
A man who killed an ASU student in 1978 was put to death by lethal injection in 2022.
Gov. Katie Hobbs then put a temporary stop on executions for nearly two years when she took office to review the process.
Those will pick up again next month when Aaron Gunches is set to die, an inmate who wants to be executed.
It’s for those reasons Marson said a firing squad could guarantee immediate death with less room for error.
“They’re sharpshooters so they don’t miss,” he said. “It’s gotta be law enforcement. People who would be on your SWAT-team type, tactical team.”
As it stands now only five states allow firing squads. The last execution by it was in Utah in 2010.
The sponsor of HCR 2024 is Rep. Alexander Kolodin, a Republican from Scottsdale, told the House committee on Tuesday that the proposal was inspired by Hobbs' review of the death penalty.
She hired a retired federal judge to review lethal injection protocols under the existing law.
He recommended the state start using the firing squad, but late last year, Gov. Hobbs fired him citing she “lost confidence” in him.
If HCR 2024 does pass both chambers of the Legislature, it would go before voters next year.
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