Anyone Know What Rifle Is To Be Used In Utah Firing Squad Case?

[twyacht]

I can't find an article that tells what type of rifle is being used.

1903 Springfield?
Some other type of bolt-action?

Garand?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/kstu-corrections-prepares-for-gardner-execution,0,6561007.story

UTAH STATE PRISON —
The Utah Department of Corrections is releasing new details about how they'll carry out the June 18 execution of condemned killer Ronnie Lee Gardner. Prison officials are preparing for their first execution in more than 10 years. Gardner has said he wants to die by firing squad, a request that's already drawing global attention.

Corrections officials said Tuesday the execution will happen just after midnight June 18 in an execution chamber built in 1998. The chamber was last used for Joseph Mitchell Parsons, who died by lethal injection in 1999. Prosecutors, law enforcement and news media will witness Gardner's death.

"The inmate can actually request that a certain number of people be there. From his family, for example," said Steve Gehrke, a spokesman for the department. "We give certain rights to his attorney, and to his religious representatives to make sure that they can be there through the process for him."

Five corrections officers are selected by the department to be executioners. They will be stationed behind a brick wall with a portal cut out.

"Five guns, four of them are loaded, one has blanks," Gehrke said. "And the call is made. When the whole process is ready, there is a hood placed over the condemned's head."

A patch with a target will be pinned to his chest. Gardner will be given the chance to say some last words. Prison officials tell Fox 13 they will accommodate Gardner on requests like his last meal, which will be prepared at the prison. Condemned inmates are not allowed to donate organs. His personal effects will be given to whom he designates.

Gardner's pending execution is already drawing protests and prison staffers are preparing for global attention. Utah is the last state with the firing squad as a method of execution. The state officially did away with it as a method in 2004, but several inmates, including Gardner, are grandfathered in.

[Timothy]

Wiki had this about Gilmore....assume the same?

'Capital punishment was suspended in the United States between 1972 and 1976, as a result of several decisions of the United States Supreme Court (Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238). The process resumed with the execution of Gary Gilmore on January 17, 1977, at Utah State Prison in Draper. The five executioners were equipped with .30-30 caliber rifles and off-the-shelf Winchester 150 grain (9.7 g) SilverTip ammunition.'

Nothing on the actual rifle used..

[twyacht]

30-30? That'll do,....probably beef up to the 170gr. Core-Lokt SP's,.....though....

 


I figured since no shooter knows who has the "blank", it would be another bolt action of vintage acclaim. Who knows,,, it could be an AR or M1-A type weapon, pre-loaded.

Just rack and roll on this scumbag. OBTW, the Human Rights Council, is all worked up...

[david86440]

yes...........30-30's

http://www.deseretnews.com/mobile/article/700026806/Firing-squad-vs-lethal-injection.html

When a judge signs a death warrant, the Department of Corrections begins what former corrections officials call "a massive undertaking."

Former Utah Department of Corrections director Gary DeLand planned three executions from the time he took over in 1987, although only two were actually carried out. He oversaw the execution of Pierre Dale Selby and Arthur Gary Bishop in 1987 and 1988, respectively.

He also planned a firing squad execution for Gardner in the late '80s, but two days before it was scheduled, the courts issued a stay.

When DeLand became head of corrections, it was nearly a decade after Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad, marking the return of the death penalty in the United States after a 10-year ban.

"What I'd studied of the Gilmore situation was it had been pretty haphazard," said DeLand, who literally wrote the book on how to carry out a court-ordered execution in Utah. "I wrote a manual. … I think it ended up being about 3,000 or 4,000 pages long. We looked at every aspect of it. … We looked at everything you're supposed to do at every point along the way."

DeLand said it is a sobering but necessary part of the job to carry out a state-ordered execution.

Gardner actually came close to dying by firing squad in the late '80s. He said he wanted to abandon his appeals and a death warrant was signed. Two days before his scheduled execution, he changed his mind and sought help from the courts. A stay was issued and he has been fighting his execution since that time.

The firing squad is made up of five riflemen, all certified law enforcement officers.

"It has always been five 30-30 rifles," DeLand said. "We had to round some up because by the time we were planning Gardner's, the weapons in our towers were AR-15s."

It's a popular weapon used in hunting so officials had no trouble finding five rifles and no trouble finding five certified officers to pull the triggers. DeLand's deputy director interviewed and selected the officers who would act as executioners, which by statute is supposed to remain secret.

"It was quite a ballet trying to get the people who were participating in the execution into the prison without people seeing who they were," DeLand said.

The exercise included corrections officers picking up decoys, he said.

Four of the guns are loaded with live ammunition and one gun is loaded with a blank. The team prepared in order to fire the shot in unison.

[billt]

I never understood the "one has blanks" part. Whoever had the blank rounds would know it as soon as they pulled the trigger, because of the total absence of recoil. This is especially true in the Winchester 94 .30-30, and other like caliber weapons like the Marlin models. My Winchester Model 94 is quite light, and has a hefty recoil in .30-30. If this is to prevent any of the shooters from packing their bags and going on a guilt trip, it is only going to work for the one guy who had the blanks, and he'll know it as sure as the other 4 who didn't.   Bill T.

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[twyacht]

It's a popular weapon used in hunting so officials had no trouble finding five rifles and no trouble finding five certified officers to pull the triggers. DeLand's deputy director interviewed and selected the officers who would act as executioners, which by statute is supposed to remain secret.


 

[Timothy]

According to Gary Gilmores brother, there were FIVE holes in his shirt when they gave him the personal effects.

I guess they didn't want to take any chances.

 

[crusader rabbit]

and no trouble finding five certified officers to pull the triggers

If these were 5 L.A cops, THEY'D PROBABLY MISS.

[sledgemeister]

Wonder if any one has been tempted to go for a head shot? The bag would contain the reminants at least.

[TAB]

last time they used 4 mp5s, thier orders were to fire untill empty.