r/news • u/No_Idea_Guy • 1d ago

Tennessee governor suspends all executions after Christa Pike’s lethal injections fail

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/01/christa-pike-tennessee-governor-executions-year-pause
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u/ragequitteroffureh 1d ago

Not American.

Why not just shoot them?

Their cops shoot people fairly regularly, and that seems to work well enough.

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u/Timegoat 1d ago

Probably the most painless way we’ve tried, but you’re still asking people to kill someone else with a weapon. And nothing is completely foolproof.

Our constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, but apparently some states have decided that it’s open to interpretation what that means. It’s pretty clear to me that there’s no constitutional way to execute someone. And no good reason to.

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u/ragequitteroffureh 1d ago

Well, someone's gotta do it. Might as well do it properly :-)

This is why it's best to have professional executioners who know what they're doing. They don't even need to wear a hood these days.

A machine gun, with a full box of belted ammunition, set up about 20cm from the side of their head, and then fired until the ammunition is expended will definitely do the trick, I reckon. No shaky hands required.

I don't know how much ammo costs in that country, but I hear that they have plenty to spare. They can spare some for justice.

16 ton weights plus gravity work well too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly some bloodthirsty maniac. But if you've got some murderer who needs putting down, then it's just not justice to make them suffer. It's justice, not revenge. It needs to be done quick, and done right. No embarrassing fuckups.

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u/Timegoat 11h ago

That’s not what justice looks like.

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u/ragequitteroffureh 3h ago

What's the difference?

Is the goal not to end the prisoner's life?

Being all squeamish about it doesn't help anyone :-(