Firing Squad
Firing squad is only used as a method of execution in Utah and Idaho, but these states also allow lethal injection. The inmate is bound to a chair with leather straps holding him in. The chair is surrounded with sandbags to absorb the inmate's blood. The head is covered with a black hood. A doctor then locates the heart with a stethoscope, then puts a piece of white cloth over the heart. Five shooters are armed with .30 caliber rifles loaded with single rounds. One of the shooters is given blank rounds and each of the shooters aims his rifle through a slot in the canvas and fires.
The prisoner usually dies as a result of blood loss caused by rupture of the heart or a large blood vessel. The person shot loses consciousness when the shock causes a fall in the supply of blood to the brain. If the shooters miss the heart, then the prisoner will bleed to death.
