South Carolina Senate adds firing squad as alternative execution method

The South Carolina Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that added a firing squad as an alternative execution method for those facing the death penalty.

The Senate passed the bill 32-11, adding the firing squad option to the electric chair in case an inmate choose one of them over lethal injection, The Associated Press reported.

Republicans and some Democrats voted to pass the bill. South Carolina has not conducted an execution in almost 10 years.

Death penalty executions stopped at the federal level when President Biden took office after former President Trump conducted more than a dozen executions in 2020.

The state is unable to conduct executions currently because they do not have the drugs for lethal injections. 

With the new bill, if the state doesn’t have the means to conduct an execution via lethal injection, a prisoner would need to choose between the electric chair and firing squad. 

The House is also considering a similar bill with the same option for execution.

The legislation would most likely pass if it got to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk, as he supports the death penalty. 

Virginia’s Senate recently voted to abolish the death penalty in a move that was supported by Democrats in the state.