Politics

Amid Falling Supply of Lethal Injection Drugs Some States Consider Older Execution Methods

State representative in Missouri has proposed firing squads

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ST. LOUIS (AP)—With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some death penalty states are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past: firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers.

Most states abandoned those execution methods more than a generation ago in a bid to make capital punishment more palatable to the public and to a judicial system worried about inflicting cruel and unusual punishments that violate the Constitution.