I see this bill as being less problematic with appeals in the courts,” said Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, who proposed the change in law.

Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, introduced the bill Tuesday, which would make Idaho the only U.S. state to give preference to a firing squad. Skaug sponsored a bill that became law in 2023 that added back the firing squad as a backup method of execution in the state, but only when lethal injection is not possible because of a lack of execution drugs.

Utah is the only state to have used firing squads in the past 50 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Idaho’s neighboring state executed Ronnie Lee Gardner in 2010 by firing squad. Mississippi, Oklahoma and South Carolina also permit use of the firing squad as an alternative to lethal injection.