Idaho has become the first state to make the firing squad its primary execution method after completing a new execution chamber at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution southwest of Boise.
The Guardian reported that the Idaho Department of Correction said it met a legislative deadline to have the chamber operational by July 1.
The state spent more than $1 million on the project, including rifles for volunteer marksmen.
The move comes as states continue searching for alternatives after repeated problems with lethal injection and recent legal challenges involving nitrogen gas executions.
Idaho is now one of seven states that authorize firing squads under some circumstances, with state officials saying the method provides a reliable means of carrying out death sentences.
"The department will be prepared to carry out an execution order after July 1," the Idaho Department of Correction said in a statement. The agency added its procedures are designed "to ensure that any execution is conducted in a secure, orderly, and dignified manner."
The state adopted the method after a February 2024 execution was halted when medical personnel were unable to establish an intravenous line for condemned inmate Thomas Creech.
While supporters assert that the procedure is dependable, critics point to recent executions in Utah and South Carolina that have generated legal challenges and renewed scrutiny.
Forensic experts retained by death penalty opponents have argued autopsy findings indicate some shots failed to strike their intended target, resulting in claims that some executions were mishandled.
South Carolina leaders have rejected allegations involving one execution, citing a state Supreme Court ruling that found the procedure had not been botched.
The Guardian reported that attorneys in later court filings also alleged that some shots may have intentionally missed their intended target, an accusation South Carolina corrections administrators called "purely speculative."
Deborah Denno, an expert on execution protocols at Fordham Law School, said the renewed interest in firing squads warrants careful review.
"We tend to forget that human beings are conducting this, and human beings have emotions and feelings," Denno said. "Such as wanting to set things right, an eye for an eye, and revenge."
The debate over execution methods comes as Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, recently indicated that his state should abolish the death penalty after saying he no longer believes capital punishment deters violent crime.
"I do not believe that argument today can be successfully made, nor do I believe that there's any chance in the future the facts that I've cited to support that belief will change," the 79-year-old governor said in a media briefing.
"Therefore," he added, "I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty."
DeWine has repeatedly postponed scheduled executions over his seven years as governor.