House proposal would add firing squad to list of execution methods in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A proposal in South Carolina would add death by firing squad to the state's list of approved execution methods.

The bill was introduced Wednesday and referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Lethal injection is the default method of execution in South Carolina; inmates may also choose electrocution.

But South Carolina is among states that have run out of execution drugs amid pharmaceutical companies' fears of exposing themselves to possible harassment. Legislation that would shield companies' names from the public, in the hopes they'd sell the drugs again, has stalled.

The proposal would also allow the state to execute inmates by electrocution if the state doesn't have any lethal injection drugs.

The Department of Corrections did not immediately comment on the proposal.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP