article_snippet: Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions when Republican governor Gary Herbert signed a law on Monday approving the method when no lethal injection drugs were available, even though Republican governor Gary Herbert called it 'a little bit gruesome'.
article_snippet: Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions when Republican governor Gary Herbert signed a law Monday approving the method for use when no lethal injection drugs are available .
article_snippet: Utah's new approval of firing squads carries no such legal caveat and represents the latest example of frustration over botched executions and the difficulty of obtaining lethal injection drugs as manufacturers opposed to capital punishment have made manufacturers opposed to capital punishment off-limits to prisons.
article_snippet: Opponents of the measure say firing squads are barbaric, with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah saying The bill makes the state 'look backward and backwoods.'
article_snippet: Utah lawmakers stopped offering inmates the choice of firing squad in 2004, saying a backup method attracted intense media interest and took attention away from victims.
article_snippet: Utah is the only state in the past 40 years to carry out such a death sentence, with three executions by firing squad since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.
article_snippet: Utah became the only state to allow firing squads for executions when Gov. Gary Herbert signed a law Monday approving the method for use when no lethal injection drugs are available (February 2015 file photo)
highlights_snippet: Opponents of the measure say firing squads are barbaric and makes Utah 'look backward and backwoods' 