Idaho is first to use firing squads as primary state execution method
Idaho will use firing squads as its primary method of capital punishment, the first state in the United States to officially do so, starting July 1.
Four other states – South Carolina, Utah, Mississippi and Oklahoma – use firing squads in executions, but only as alternatives to other methods in specified circumstances.
In Idaho, executions will be carried out at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution by three volunteer police marksmen whose identities will be kept confidential.
The Idaho Department of Correction spent about $1.2 million in execution unit updates in the prison's F‑Block and rifle purchases. The retrofit allows the prison to conduct executions by both firing squad and lethal injection.
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Why is Idaho using firing squads?
Idaho lawmakers passed House Bill 186 in 2023 that authorized executions by firing squad as an alternative if lethal injection was unavailable. The bill designates firing squads as the primary method of execution. Lethal injection is the alternative method.
States conduct executions mostly by lethal injection, but pharmaceutical companies started barring use of their drugs for executions starting in 2010. In the interim, some states have sought other methods or have purchased drugs from foreign sources.
Pfizer announced it would block states from using its drugs for lethal injections in 2016. That move shut down the last source of execution drugs available on the open market.
How are executions conducted in the United States?
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How will firing squad executions be conducted in Idaho?
The state department of corrections says the Firing Squad Team will consist of three team members, two alternate team members, and a team leader. The three-member team will carry out the execution.
Firearms of .308 caliber assault-style rifles with .308 or 7.62 110 grain ammunition will be used. One live round will be loaded in three separate magazines for each weapon.
The chamber is a dedicated firing-squad space, with sound and ballistic protection. IDOC says it will not share blueprints because of safety and security protocols.
The condemned person will be offered a mild sedative and will be put in the execution chair. EKG monitors will be attached and a target placed over the condemned person’s heart. The condemned person can request an eye covering.
The three shooters will fire in unison from about 10 yards away, according to the Idaho Statesman, which says shooters will be behind a protective wall with a 1-foot opening. The wall limits exposure of the shooters to the execution area.
A coroner will check the body and pronounce death.
Eight people, seven men and one woman, are currently on Idaho’s death row. The men are at Idaho Maximum Security Institution. The woman is held at Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center.
Idaho's last execution was in June 2012. Lethal injection was used.
The last person to be executed by firing squad in the United States was in South Carolina in November 2025. It was the state’s third firing-squad execution in 2025.
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; Death Penalty Information Center; Idaho Department of Correction