( CNN ) A bill that would allow Utah to use firing squads to execute some death-row prisoners passed in the state Senate on Tuesday . The measure , which passed 18 to 10 , will be sent to Gov . Gary Herbert , who has not said whether he will sign it into law or veto the bill . Herbert released a statement on the legislation , which would add death by firing squad as an option in a state that uses lethal injection . `` Our statute is clear that lethal injection is the method by which ( an execution ) will happen . We have no intent to change that , '' he said . The law would give the state the option to use a five-member squad in cases where the drugs necessary for lethal injection are n't available 30 days before the date set for the execution . `` Our state , as is the case with states around the country , is finding it increasingly difficult to obtain the substances required to perform a lethal injection . We are dedicated to pursuing all reasonable and legal options to obtain those substances to make sure that , when required , we are in a position to carry out this very serious sentence by lethal injection , '' the governor said . Eight people are on Utah 's death row . Utah banned death by firing squad in 2004 , though inmates who chose that option before the law changed still ended up being shot to death . The last execution by firing squad was in 2010 , and it was also the most recent execution in Utah . A Utah firing squad also executed Gary Gilmore in 1977 , the first death by capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty the prior year . In recent years , states have struggled to maintain a supply of lethal injection drugs as manufacturers either stopped producing the drugs or barred their use in executions . Texas nearly out of execution drug . The European manufacturers of pentobarbital , an anesthetic , explicitly banned U.S. prisons from using its drug in executions . Some states have sought out substitutes or gone with one drug instead of the traditional three-drug cocktail . In April , Oklahoma used midazolam as a substitute for pentobarbital as part of a three-drug cocktail in an execution that went awry . Clayton Lockett , a convicted rapist and murderer , writhed and convulsed after the drugs were administered . It took 43 minutes for him to die . Last week , Georgia postponed an execution because the drugs appeared `` cloudy . '' The state also indefinitely postponed at least one other execution until it can analyze the cocktail it uses for the procedures , officials said . Georgia halts executions to analyze lethal drug cocktail . CNN 's Tony Marco contributed to this report .
Firing squads were an option in Utah before they were banned in 2004 . Comment: Many states are having problems getting the drugs .