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Mississippi considers firing squad as method of execution

bmr528 said:
I wonder how much a gun with "blanks" kicks when fired,, I know ( from experience) most high powered rifles have a certain amount of "kick" when fired. I would imagine there is a difference, especially to an experienced shooter

djl
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Wouldn't that depend on the type of gun used? Here's what Wiki said they used....

"The five executioners were equipped with .30-30-caliber rifles and off-the-shelf Winchester 150-grain (9.7 g) SilverTip ammunition...."​

It goes on to say...

"...Prison officials stated that the firing squad comprised four men with blanks, and one with a live round, so that the shooters could not be certain as to who fired the fatal shots.[11] However, upon inspecting the clothes worn by his brother Gary at his execution, Mikal Gilmore noted five holes in the shirt. According to his memoir Shot in the Heart, "the state of Utah, apparently, had taken no chances on the morning that it put my brother to death."[12]..."​

So maybe they were just told they had blanks...or maybe Mikal Gilmore was wrong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gilmore

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7767494/the_san_bernardino_county_sun/


I was our local tv station's court room illustrator for Gilmore's sentencing.
 
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bmr528 said:
I wonder how much a gun with "blanks" kicks when fired,, I know ( from experience) most high powered rifles have a certain amount of "kick" when fired. I would imagine there is a difference, especially to an experienced shooter

djl
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I can speak from experience. They don't kick much at all. You can definitely tell the difference.
 
Moot said:
Last I noticed they still revere that stupid confederate flag and everything it represents. Damn that Lost Cause.
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So, you've met all of us then? That's what we think?

Thanks for the info. Growing up here, I find that I learn so much about Mississippi just from reading posts in forums from other parts of the country.
 
Moot said:
Wouldn't that depend on the type of gun used? Here's what Wiki said they used....

"The five executioners were equipped with .30-30-caliber rifles and off-the-shelf Winchester 150-grain (9.7 g) SilverTip ammunition...."​

It goes on to say...

"...Prison officials stated that the firing squad comprised four men with blanks, and one with a live round, so that the shooters could not be certain as to who fired the fatal shots.[11] However, upon inspecting the clothes worn by his brother Gary at his execution, Mikal Gilmore noted five holes in the shirt. According to his memoir Shot in the Heart, "the state of Utah, apparently, had taken no chances on the morning that it put my brother to death."[12]..."​

So maybe they were just told they had blanks...or maybe Mikal Gilmore was wrong.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gilmore

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/7767494/the_san_bernardino_county_sun/


I was our local tv station's court room illustrator for Gilmore's sentencing.
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The picture of the chair I posted earlier shows four holes in the back of the chair. If he had five holes in his shirt, I wonder where the fifth bullet went? I guess it is possible that two of the bullets shared a hole.

I wonder why, if they are so concerned with giving the shooters plausible deniability, they just don't use a mechanically mounted rifle and take the human out of the picture. Robots don't lay awake at night suffering from quilt.
 
Brewdog said:
So, you've met all of us then? That's what we think?

Thanks for the info. Growing up here, I find that I learn so much about Mississippi just from reading posts in forums from other parts of the country.
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Then I guess it might come as a shock to you to know that Mississippi is the poorest and least educated state in the nation.


10 poorest states in America in 2016 | BenefitsPRO

Mississippi ranks last in national survey of educational performance - Daily Journal


Thats not to say there aren't good people in Mississippi....but, they do have a history to reckon with.
 
While I am anti capital punishment I do feel the firing squad is a better alternative to some other methods we use. I wonder why we do not use a vacuum chamber that simulates high altitude (example 35000 ft). I have read accounts of passengers and high altitude tests where people describe the experience as a spell of giddiness (like they have had a couple alcoholic drinks) quickly (2-3 minutes) followed by sleep which will ultimately lead to a painless death.
 
bmr528 said:
I wonder how much a gun with "blanks" kicks when fired,, I know ( from experience) most high powered rifles have a certain amount of "kick" when fired. I would imagine there is a difference, especially to an experienced shooter

djl
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As the other poster mentioned, experienced shooters can tell. I should say usually tell. I have fired some blank rounds where the difference was obvious. Others not so much. If an armourer individually loaded the blank cartridges with the correct powder charge, it would be pretty difficult for even an experienced shooter to tell.
 
While I'm vehemently opposed to the Death Penalty, when the question itself arises as to the method in which it is carried out, isolated from whether it should be or not, I say, "Why not?"
 
Tigerace117 said:
Ah, the age old whine that white people are the real victims. Yawn.
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yes, the gas-lighting of cis gendered white male scum continues....... they are horrid abhorrent racists who need to atone for that which is impossible to atone for or had nothing to do with and if any of that scum rejects the notion of an impossible reality, that pariah should be cast out as claiming victimhood, and be called a closet racist, mysoginist and un "Woke" person to be shunned. This is way too intellectual for you I am sure. but you should try to think about it. There is no win for SJW views of the white male other than neutered submission to identity politics, where they are the scapegoat for all societies ills.
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
yes, the gas-lighting of cis gendered white male scum continues....... they are horrid abhorrent racists who need to atone for that which is impossible to atone for or had nothing to do with and if any of that scum rejects the notion of an impossible reality, that pariah should be cast out as claiming victimhood, and be called a closet racist, mysoginist and un "Woke" person to be shunned. This is way too intellectual for you I am sure. but you should try to think about it. There is no win for SJW views of the white male other than neutered submission to identity politics, where they are the scapegoat for all societies ills.
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Considering the fact that the KKK, an organization consisting predominantly of white males, has literally burnt people alive in the past; and considering that the federal government had to send the 101st Airborne Division in order to enable African American kids to attend school in the past; the whining of your and your cohorts rings hollow.

WASPs are the one ethnic/religious/cultural group which hasn't been shat upon at one point or another in American history. The "white people are the real victims" rhetoric is pathetic. Show me white people getting hung from the nearest tree for flirting with a woman and we'll consider it. Until then........
 
Tigerace117 said:
Considering the fact that the KKK, an organization consisting predominantly of white males, has literally burnt people alive in the past; and considering that the federal government had to send the 101st Airborne Division in order to enable African American kids to attend school in the past; the whining of your and your cohorts rings hollow.

WASPs are the one ethnic/religious/cultural group which hasn't been shat upon at one point or another in American history. The "white people are the real victims" rhetoric is pathetic. Show me white people getting hung from the nearest tree for flirting with a woman and we'll consider it. Until then........
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Couple things. "burned alive" not "burnt"


KKK was a democrat party organization.

Not all white people were in the KKK

Not all white people are "WASPs"


I Have not lynched, owned, "burnt"[sic], oppressed, anyone. I am from an Irish Catholic family, What sins of my race am I expected to atone for? how is absolution granted? Is there a way out of the white guilt trap or is it by design that there is no way out?


Show me the last time someone was lynched for "flirting with a woman".....
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
Couple things. "burned alive" not "burnt"


KKK was a democrat party organization.

Not all white people were in the KKK

Not all white people are "WASPs"


I Have not lynched, owned, "burnt"[sic], oppressed, anyone. I am from an Irish Catholic family, What sins of my race am I expected to atone for? how is absolution granted? Is there a way out of the white guilt trap or is it by design that there is no way out?


Show me the last time someone was lynched for "flirting with a woman".....
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Irrelevant grammatical point noted and dismissed.

The KKK was founded by former Confederate officers--- a group with avowed support of white supremacism.

No **** Sherlock.

And yet, Irish people didn't exactly treat African Americans with kindness either. They didn't have the same ingrained prejudices you found in the Deep South, but they were still there.

The start to getting out of it is accepting that it happened, and not trying to turn everything into "the real victims are white people".

The most famous victim was Emmett Till(of course, the lady he was supposedly flirting with admitted later she made the whole thing up), but it happened over and over and over again.
 
Tigerace117 said:
Irrelevant grammatical point noted and dismissed.

The KKK was founded by former Confederate officers--- a group with avowed support of white supremacism.
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democrats. own it.


And yet, Irish people didn't exactly treat African Americans with kindness either. They didn't have the same ingrained prejudices you found in the Deep South, but they were still there.
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Irish were the first slaves. did you know that? and making blanket statements about whole cultures? there is a word for that. :lol:


The start to getting out of it is accepting that it happened, and not trying to turn everything into "the real victims are white people".
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but if I had no part of it, what do I have to atone for?


Think about it. it's a no way out situation. yes bad things happened to people..... not my bad.


The most famous victim was Emmett Till(of course, the lady he was supposedly flirting with admitted later she made the whole thing up), but it happened over and over and over again.
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it's not 1955 bro.
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
democrats. own it.




Irish were the first slaves. did you know that? and making blanket statements about whole cultures? there is a word for that. :lol:





but if I had no part of it, what do I have to atone for?


Think about it. it's a no way out situation. yes bad things happened to people..... not my bad.





it's not 1955 bro.
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Gee buddy, considering that they broke away and committed treason en masse, their American political stance is utterly irrelevant.

Actually, if we're talking first out of everybody the first slaves were likely Egyptians or from the Fertile Crescent.

Just stating the facts buddy. When the government has to send an entire airborne division to force you to allow kids to attend high school, you have a serious problem with racism.

You make it "your bad" when you pretend such events were "no big deal" or when you try to claim slaves had it good. Which has happened--- more than once.

Some people never change.
 
longview said:
The one I am thinking of was in 76 or 77, and it was on national TV. The guy had a choice and choose a firing squad.
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Yes, the Gilmore execution was all over the media ....but it was never televised.
 
Tigerace117 said:
Gee buddy, considering that they broke away and committed treason en masse, their American political stance is utterly irrelevant.
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Do you know what the US did to traitors in the 1700's?

They made them president.
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
democrats. own it.
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Why should anyone have to "own" that? Do you honestly think the Democratic Party of the 1860s bears any resemblance to the Democratic Party of today?

Demanding someone, as a Democrat, "own" the KKK is akin to demanding that a French person living in 2017 "own" the Marquis De Sade or the Reign of Terror. Um, no. All of the principals in those times are long dead, and times, parties and countries have changed.
 
Moot said:
Thats why you shouldn't be on the firing squad. Killing someone isn't something most people take lightly....but someone has to do it. When Gary Gilmore was executed, the firing squad only had one or two people with real bullets in their gun and all the others had blanks. That way none of them knew for sure who fired the bullet that killed him and they could all sleep at night thinking it wasn't them.
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I would gladly carry out an execution like that, and I am sure I would not lose one minute of sleep over it. To execute a heinously evil murderer who has been fairly convicted and sentenced and had his appeals denied is to do good, and no one should feel guilty about doing good. That's just why the Russian woman who killed dozen of German soldiers as a sniper in World War Two had no regrets, but instead told audiences she spoke to how happy and proud she was to have been able to use her skill to help defeat a thoroughly evil cause.
 
Kobie said:
Why should anyone have to "own" that? Do you honestly think the Democratic Party of the 1860s bears any resemblance to the Democratic Party of today?

Demanding someone, as a Democrat, "own" the KKK is akin to demanding that a French person living in 2017 "own" the Marquis De Sade or the Reign of Terror. Um, no. All of the principals in those times are long dead, and times, parties and countries have changed.
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Maybe, but the fact remains that it was the Republican Party which was the party of Lincoln--the one which championed the liberation of blacks--while the Democratic Party was busy doing all it could to hold them down. And Southern Democrats continued to do that well into the 20th century.
 
matchlight said:
Maybe, but the fact remains that it was the Republican Party which was the party of Lincoln--the one which championed the liberation of blacks--while the Democratic Party was busy doing all it could to hold them down. And Southern Democrats continued to do that well into the 20th century.
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Way to miss the entire point of my post. Kudos to you.

If Abraham Lincoln was alive today, outside of rapping furiously on the inside of his coffin begging someone to let him out, do you think he'd be a Republican?
 
ReverendHellh0und said:
yes, the gas-lighting of cis gendered white male scum continues....... they are horrid abhorrent racists who need to atone for that which is impossible to atone for or had nothing to do with and if any of that scum rejects the notion of an impossible reality, that pariah should be cast out as claiming victimhood, and be called a closet racist, mysoginist and un "Woke" person to be shunned. This is way too intellectual for you I am sure. but you should try to think about it. There is no win for SJW views of the white male other than neutered submission to identity politics, where they are the scapegoat for all societies ills.
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I am proud to be a white, American man whose ancestors came here about 1800, a strong supporter of our Constitution, and a Christian, even if not a very observant one. Anyone who doesn't like that can try to sue me.

I am glad to see that Mississippi is doing this, although I have for a long time thought hanging would be the hardest method of executing murderers to attack on Eighth Amendment grounds. It is hallowed by tradition, being the method used on probably 90% or more of the persons ever executed in this country. That tradition means it falls well outside what was meant at the time by "cruel and unusual punishment." That referred to garrotting, beheading, drawing and quartering, burning at the stake, and other forms of execution which were either novel, or so outmoded as to be barbaric, or otherwise not usual in England in the late 1700's. I think I remember reading that the then new-fangled guillotine was shunned in England because it was French, and therefore foreign and unsavory. And those English views were imported into our Eighth Amendment.
 
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Kobie said:
Way to miss the entire point of my post. Kudos to you.

If Abraham Lincoln was alive today, outside of rapping furiously on the inside of his coffin begging someone to let him out, do you think he'd be a Republican?
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I don't know, but I doubt Honest Abe could stomach being a member of the same party as Mrs. Clinton.
 
I don't really have an issue with this. Given some of the screwups that have happened with lethal injection recently, I don't think a firing squad would be any more "cruel and unusual".

I've often wondered why prisons don't use inert gas as a method of execution. You sedate the prisoner, seal them in a room, then fill the room with an inert gas like nitrogen. There's no carbon dioxide buildup, so no feeling of suffocation. Just a loss of consciousness and peaceful death.
 
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