Straight to the face

Methods of Execution

Execution by shooting is the most common method of execution in the world. The majority of countries use the firing squad, but single person shootings are still found. In Soviet Russia, a single bullet to the back of the head was the most frequently used method of execution for military and non-military criminals. This is still the main method of execution in many parts of China. In Taiwan, the prisoner is first injected with a strong anesthetic and then shot in the chest. The primary method of execution used in the United States in lethal injection. Various U.S. states allow death row inmates to choose from the electric chair, lethal gas, firing squad, or hanging. These five methods of execution are used all over the world. The last death by gas chamber in the U.S. was in 1999 when German Walter LaGrand was executed in Arizona. Today, the firing squad is only permitted in three U.S. states, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Utah. In some Islamic nations capital punishment is carried out with beheadings, most often in Saudi Arabia. Stoning is also an accepted method of execution in this area of the world. The guillotine was the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was outlawed in 1981.