Utah lawmakers vote to bring back firing squads

State lawmakers have passed a bill that would make Utah the only US state to allow firing squads for carrying out a death penalty if there is a shortage of execution drugs.

The passage of the bill by the state Senate on Tuesday comes as states struggle to obtain lethal injection drugs amid a nationwide shortage. The state's governor still has to sign the bill for it to become law, and whether he will is uncertain.

The bill's sponsor, Republican Representative Paul Ray, touted the measure as being a more humane form of execution. Ray argued that using a team of trained marksmen is faster and more humane than the drawn-out deaths that have occurred in botched lethal injections.