Idaho Chooses Firing Squads Over Lethal Injection

Long hallway with prison cells on both sides.

Idaho has quietly turned the firing squad into its main way of executing people, while blocking the public from truly knowing how “humane” those killings will be.

Story Snapshot

Idaho now stands alone as the only state that makes the firing squad its primary execution method.
Supporters call the firing squad faster and more humane than lethal injection, but offer no hard medical proof.
Critics, including a Republican veteran and Catholic leaders, warn the method is brutal and attacks human dignity.
New laws and prison rules limit outside review of firing squad procedures, feeding fears about a secretive “deep state” justice system.

Idaho Makes the Firing Squad Its Main Execution Method

On March 12, 2025, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 37, making the firing squad the state’s primary method of execution starting July 1, 2026. Idaho joins four other states that allow the firing squad, but it is the only one to put it first, ahead of lethal injection. This shift follows years of problems getting lethal injection drugs and growing concern over botched injections that leave inmates in visible pain. For many Americans, this feels like the system admitting it cannot run executions cleanly, yet doubling down anyway.

New Idaho Department of Correction protocols show how the firing squad will work in practice. Three primary shooters and two alternates, all volunteer law enforcement officers, will stand about 21 feet away and use.308 caliber rifles aimed at a target placed over the prisoner’s heart. Each shooter must hold peace officer training certification for at least three years and prove 100% accuracy at that distance. Supporters say these rules ensure a quick, certain death, but they also formalize a system where public servants are trained to kill on command.

Supporters Say It Is “Humane”; Evidence Is Thin

Legislative backers argued that the firing squad is a more humane method because it is fast and avoids drug problems. Senator Brian Lenney called death by firing squad “instantaneous” and “an act of mercy,” while Representative Bruce Skaug said it is “certain” and “quick” and brings justice faster. Some legal scholars also point out that the Supreme Court has allowed firing squads and that research suggests fewer botched executions than with lethal injection. These claims speak to a core frustration on the right: a justice system seen as slow, messy, and weak on violent crime.

But these strong promises rest mostly on opinion, not on modern medical studies. Law review commentary often cites only one detailed study from 1938, where a firing squad execution in Utah took under a minute, compared with lethal injections that can take several minutes. The Idaho legislative record includes no peer‑reviewed forensic data comparing pain levels or brain activity between firing squad and injection. When leaders promise “instant mercy” without fresh science, many Americans across the spectrum see the same pattern they fear in Washington: confident talk on thin evidence.

Critics Warn of Brutality, Wrongful Convictions, and a “Culture of Death”

Opposition in Idaho has come not only from civil rights groups but also from inside the Republican Party. Senator Dan Foreman, a veteran and former police officer, was the only Republican senator to vote no. He told colleagues that firing metal at 3,200 feet per second through a human body is “anything but humane” and said he had seen gunshot wounds that were far from instant. His account clashes directly with claims of guaranteed quick death and reminds many people that real violence rarely looks clean, even when government manages it.

National Catholic leaders have also weighed in, tying Idaho’s move to a broader “culture of death.” Bishop Peter Christensen of Boise warned that the firing squad bill ignores the dignity of the person, echoing Catholic teaching that the death penalty is now inadmissible because other ways exist to protect society. Pope Leo has repeated that teaching, urging abolition as states bring back both firing squads and electric chairs. For many religious conservatives and liberals alike, this raises a deeper fear: a government that prefers extreme punishment over tougher work like fixing courts, policing, and poverty.

Secrecy, Botched Executions, and Growing Distrust of the System

House Bill 803 and the new prison protocols do more than set firing squad rules; they also limit what the public can see. Some details of the execution process and the identities of volunteers are shielded from review, making it harder for families, reporters, or watchdogs to check whether the method is truly humane. Critics say this secrecy echoes the federal push to expand the death penalty while adding firing squads, electric chairs, and gas chambers, all behind complex legal walls. To citizens already angry at the “deep state,” it looks like the government protecting itself more than the public.

🚨 AMERICA IS BRINGING BACK FIRING SQUADS.

South Carolina already used them.

July 1: Idaho becomes the FIRST state to make firing squad its PRIMARY execution method.

Authorized states:
🇺🇸 Idaho
🇺🇸 South Carolina
🇺🇸 Utah
🇺🇸 Oklahoma
🇺🇸 Mississippi

Even the federal government…

— conspiracytheorynut (@OfficalCTN) July 1, 2026

History also undercuts the promise of clean, flawless shootings. National data show six people executed by firing squad in the United States since 1976, with at least two known cases where the prisoner bled to death instead of dying quickly. South Carolina has carried out three firing squad executions in recent years, and watchdogs have raised questions about pain and procedure there as well. At the same time, surveys show public support for the death penalty slowly shrinking, especially as stories of wrongful convictions spread online and on social media. Many Americans now ask a simple question: if the government cannot be trusted to get trials right, how can it be trusted to shoot people in secret and call it mercy?