Press Release
Aug. 3, 2000
9:30 am E.S.T.

WHAT THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT FIRING SQUADS

You might have seen a recent piece of NRA propaganda titled "What the Pharmaceutical Lobby Doesn't Want You To Know About Lethal Injection." That so-called "press release" was made, beginning to end, of lies and half-truths:

1. Here's a word that didn't appear in the NRA's position paper: "Ricochets." The truth is, you put a bunch of good ol' boys together with guns in a room, all firing at once, and you don't know who's going to get offed. Lethal injections have never killed anybody other than the bad, bad, individuals for whom they were intended.

2. Another fact the NRA conveniently forgot to mention: Lots of people get shot by a gun and don't die-Larry Flynt and the Pope, just to name two.

3. Following a lethal injection, the needles are disposed of in a safe and hygienic manner, according to federal guidelines on medical and chemical waste. What happens to guns after a firing squad? Beats us. Maybe the guards take them home and hide them under their children's beds, just before your son or daughter innocently happens by for a poorly-supervised playdate.

Firing squads have gone the way of the ineffective and archaic electric chair, and for good reason. Lethal injection might cost a little more, but isn't that a small price to pay for your child's safety?