Latest in Florida GOP absurdity: So tired of being humane.

[NecronLord]

Maybe you can combine the two, and have the man get shot by a firing squad armed with dartguns?

It may interest people to know that I shared this quip - I found it hilarious - with a co-worker today. I found out he has a phobia of needles, and visibly shuddered at the prospect of the dartgun firing squad.

Of course, he's not too hot on lethal injection either it turns out.

[Connor MacLeod]

Maybe you can combine the two, and have the man get shot by a firing squad armed with dartguns?

It may interest people to know that I shared this quip - I found it hilarious - with a co-worker today. I found out he has a phobia of needles, and visibly shuddered at the prospect of the dartgun firing squad.

Of course, he's not too hot on lethal injection either it turns out.

I have a needle phobia too, but that doesn't mean I'd prefer getting shot with a bullet over a dart gun. Of course I've got a vague idea what getting hit with a bullet might do to me... That actually gets me thinking, I wonder how many people who support or propose executions (or execution methods) have any idea how those work, or what it involves, or if this is just a sort of "herd mentality" things where people hear someone else describe it, it seems sensible to them, and then they just agree with it without thinking any deeper on it. I have this sneaking suspicion that actual exposure to death and executions of various kinds would have... interesting effects on at least some of the people who propose it.

I'm waiting to see if they advocate bringing back the Guillotine (sponsored by Gillette - man that makes me think of some of George Carlin's prison solutions.)

[Shroom Man 777]

The last time I willingly donated blood, using those big bore needles where you can look into the hole can see through the other side, they actually had to jab me three times because my veins were too hard to get, and each time they jabbed they had to "fish around" with the needle, slide it in deeper or draw it back a bit shallower while "wandering" inside my arm to search for the vein. They did it on my right arm, my left arm, and I told them to go back to the right arm and try again because the bloodflow was kind of insufficient and I really wanted them to get the 500ml needed for the donation. By the third go, the medtechs were actually more reluctant to jab me with the needles than I was.

So, I dunno, lying on bed and getting hooked up to an IV line that'll make me sleepy sleep forever isn't that scary a concept for me.

Getting shot kinda is. Do you even die instantaneously from that? They shoot you in the chest, right? What happens if you don't die instantly, they just wait for you to bleed out? That fucking sucks.

[Connor MacLeod]

The last time I willingly donated blood, using those big bore needles where you can look into the hole can see through the other side, they actually had to jab me three times because my veins were too hard to get, and each time they jabbed they had to "fish around" with the needle, slide it in deeper or draw it back a bit shallower while "wandering" inside my arm to search for the vein. They did it on my right arm, my left arm, and I told them to go back to the right arm and try again because the bloodflow was kind of insufficient and I really wanted them to get the 500ml needed for the donation. By the third go, the medtechs were actually more reluctant to jab me with the needles than I was.

So, I dunno, lying on bed and getting hooked up to an IV line that'll make me sleepy sleep forever isn't that scary a concept for me.

Ugh. I have that problme frequently when it comes to drawing blood and stuff. I can't have it taken from the finger - too much of a chicken so I've always had to have it taken from the arm. You sound more American Tough than I am

Getting shot kinda is. Do you even die instantaneously from that? They shoot you in the chest, right? What happens if you don't die instantly, they just wait for you to bleed out? That fucking sucks.

Well no lasguns cauterize instantly on impac- oh wait you mean bullets! Well I'm a layman and my knowledge is clearly very limited, but I gather blood loss from having a great big hole put in you, and then it depends a great deal on where you are hit as much as the size of the hole. Shock is an issue too I believe but beyond that things get nebulous and it still isn't immediate (unless you shoot someone in the head with some kind of expanding, tumbling or fragmenting bullet, or something really huge like .50 caliber that disintegrates your skull).

There's probably an error in there or something I left out, but by and large its not a very fast or neat way to die, IMHO. Might as well go with the Gillette guillotine.

[Simon_Jester]

The last time I willingly donated blood, using those big bore needles where you can look into the hole can see through the other side, they actually had to jab me three times because my veins were too hard to get, and each time they jabbed they had to "fish around" with the needle, slide it in deeper or draw it back a bit shallower while "wandering" inside my arm to search for the vein. They did it on my right arm, my left arm, and I told them to go back to the right arm and try again because the bloodflow was kind of insufficient and I really wanted them to get the 500ml needed for the donation. By the third go, the medtechs were actually more reluctant to jab me with the needles than I was.

So, I dunno, lying on bed and getting hooked up to an IV line that'll make me sleepy sleep forever isn't that scary a concept for me.

Getting shot kinda is. Do you even die instantaneously from that? They shoot you in the chest, right? What happens if you don't die instantly, they just wait for you to bleed out? That fucking sucks.

Traditionally, firing squads go like this:

They line up about a dozen guys with rifles. You walk out. You are offered a blindfold (so you don't have to watch). You may be offered a cigarette according to old tradition; that may be out of style these days. Then they go "ready, aim, fire."

The dozen guys with rifles shoot. One of them has a blank cartridge loaded so all of them know they might not have actually shot you. Assuming the guys with rifles aren't Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy graduates, you thus get hit with about ten or so bullets, mostly in the chest, all at once. This will probably rip you up enough that you bleed out really fast, and I suspect the shock will often shut down people's awareness quickly too.

If you're still thrashing around or whatever, and did not die instantly, traditionally the guy who's in charge of the firing squad is supposed to walk up and shoot you in the head with a pistol to put you out of your misery quickly. So no, they don't just leave you there to bleed out slowly, if you are bleeding out slowly, which hopefully you aren't.

[Broomstick]

If a bullet severs something like your aorta you'll bleed out in a very, very short period of time, measured in seconds. You'll be unconscious and either dead or dying. The problem with a firing squad is that there is no way to be sure any of the people shooting you are going to get a major blood vessel like that. They could just give you "flesh wounds" that would cause great suffering before you expire.

The chief appeal of a firing squad during something like war time is that you've got guys with guns readily available. It's not because it's an efficient or reliably humane way to execute someone.

[The Yosemite Bear]

ala what happened to a certain aussie offficer during the boer war. purhaps we should use droids for exections bv firing squad?

[CrateriaA]

ala what happened to a certain aussie offficer during the boer war. purhaps we should use droids for exections bv firing squad?

And risk a robo-revolt? No way Yose!

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I think the point is that I would rather not be strapped down to a guerney for my last moment of life on Earth, no matter the level of approximately sixty seconds worth of pain I might suffer as a result of that choice, the time it takes for someone to walk over and shoot me in the head with a .45 if they botch the shots. I should rather like to distribute any spare money I have to the firing squad as an incentive to get them to shoot straight, and stand there making some idle banter with a bottle of wine in my left hand and a kretek in my right. The people who respond to execution this way tend to be greater in number than those who terrify themselves, by the simple fact that during the appeals process the condemned has had months or years to prepare for the moment.