SALT LAKE CITY, March 24 (UPI) -- Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert signed a bill Monday that allows execution by firing squad if lethal-injection drugs are not available.
The new legislation comes amid a nationwide shortage of the drug cocktail used to carry out lethal injection, forcing states to come up with alternate methods to carry out executions. Utah has eight inmates on death row and has not carried out a lethal injection since 1999. The state has no supply of lethal-injection drugs.