by Sara-Jessica Dilks

A newly-proposed bill in Missouri calls for the introduction of a “five-person firing squad” as an alternative method to lethal injection for the death penalty, according to a copy of the bill on the Missouri House of Representatives website. This bill, number 1470, is sponsored by Republican Missouri representatives Rick Brattin and Paul Fitzwater.

According to a report by The Columbus Dispatch, the proposition was likely in connection with “opposition to capital punishment by pharmaceutical companies makes it hard to obtain drugs for lethal injections.” As a result of this deficiency, states including Missouri have begun looking for alternative execution methods.

A December 2013 article by CNN stated that a production shortage of lethal injection drugs, namely from European pharmaceutical companies, has resulted in the “declining use of capital punishment in the United States.” In 2013, there were just 39 instances of the death penalty, a ten percent decrease from the previous year.

Brattin was quoted saying that the execution method of a firing squad is “no less humane than lethal injection.”

The Catholic church, however, does not approve of the death penalty whatsoever; the biblical list of Ten Commandments preaches that “thou shalt not kill.”

An article by The National Catholic Reporter said that last year, Pope Francis attended the Fifth World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Madrid, Spain. At the conference, he called for the abolition of capital punishment, asking for “a lesser punishment” that would allow for “reform of the offender.” 

Former STA theology teacher Betsy Hansbrough said that capital punishment is an issue that she “feels very strongly about.” She occasionally communicates with death row inmates, and is a former probation officer for the Jackson County Juvenile Court. During her career at the juvenile court, she knew a nine year old boy who years later was executed in his twenties for additional crimes. Hansbrough believes that any form of the death penalty, regardless of the method used, is immoral.

“Although some people can’t live among us, I’m not sure why we have to treat them like animals,” Hansbrough said.

“[Capital punishment] is the one life issue that’s most easy for us to dismiss, and it’s the one that we must work the hardest to involve ourselves in.”

On the other hand, STA history and government teacher Jacqui Brewer is relatively “on the fence” about the issue. She believes that methods such as a firing squad are not ethically different than the current method of lethal injection.

“If you’re someone who is pro-death penalty, [a firing squad] is as quick and humane as anything else, if the [executioners] are properly trained,” Brewer said.

However, Brewer also questioned the US government’s legalization of capital punishment on a broader spectrum.

“They’re using [the death penalty] as if this is the best method to deal with [severe criminals],” Brewer said. “But how can that possibly be the best way?”

What do you think about Missouri using a firing squad as a means of capital punishment? Share your opinions by commenting below.