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ByBradyMccombsand Lindsay Whitehurst The Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY A vote by Utah lawmakers to bring back executions by firing squad is the most dramatic illustration yet of the na- tionwide frustration over bungled executions and shortages of lethal-injec- tion drugs. Utah and several other states are scrambling to modify their laws on the heels of a botched Okla- homa lethal injection last year and one in Arizona in which the condemned man took nearly two hours to die. Meanwhile, Texas exe- cuted a Mexican mafia hit man Wednesday evening with its second-to-last dos- age of drugs. Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has declined to say if he will sign the fir- ing-squad bill, a decision that's not expected for a week or so. "States are wondering which way to go, and one way is to send up a warn- ing flag that if you don't al- low us freedom in this le- thal-injection area, we'll do something else," said Rich- ard Dieter, executive di- rector of the Washington, D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punish- ment. "This might be a mes- sage rather than a preferred route of punishment." States have struggled to keep up their drug invento- ries as European manufac- turers opposed to capital punishment refuse to sell the components of lethal in- jections to U.S. prisons. The Texas deadline is the most imminent, but other states are struggling, too. The Utah bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Paul Ray, argues that a team of trained marksmenisfasterandmore humane than the drawn-out deaths involved when lethal injections go awry. Though Utah's next ex- ecution is probably a few years away, Ray said Wednesday that he wants to settle on a backup method now so authorities are not racing to find a solution if the drug shortage drags on. He's hopeful that the pro- posal will become law, say- ing he thinks the gover- nor would have already an- nounced his intention to veto it if that were his plan. Opponents, however, said firing squads are a cruel holdover from another era and will earn the state in- ternational condemnation. Lawmakers stopped of- fering inmates the choice of firing squad in 2004, say- ing the method attracted intense media interest and took attention away from victims. Utah is the only state in the past 40 years to carry out such a death sentence, with three executions by fir- ing squad since the U.S. Su- preme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The last was in 2010, when Ron- nie Lee Gardner was put to death by five police officers with .30-caliber Winchester rifles in an event that gen- erated international inter- est and elicited condemna- tion from many. The American Civil Liber- ties Union decried Gardner's execution as an example of the "barbaric, arbitrary and bankrupting practice of cap- ital punishment." Religious leaders at the time called for an end to the death penalty at an interfaith vigil in Salt Lake City. Three more death-row inmates who chose fir- ing squad before the law changed would still have the option after their ap- peals are exhausted. If those executions go for- ward, prison authorities will choose the gunmen from a pool of volunteer of- ficers, starting with those in the area where the crime happened, Ray said. "We've always had a lot more volunteers than actu- ally had spots," he said. Under the new measure, the method would be based solely on the availability of lethal-injection drugs, not an inmate's choice. Utah's next execution probably won't happen for at least a few years, said Tom Brunker, the state at- torney who oversees capi- tal cases. One person nearing a possible execution date is Ron Lafferty, the longest- serving death row inmate who claimed God directed him to kill his sister-in- law, Brenda Lafferty, and her baby daughter in 1984 because of the victim's re- sistance to his beliefs in po- lygamy. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled back in 1897 that death by firing squad was legal, Brunker said, but he expects a constitutional challenge if the bill be- comes law and an execu- tion is scheduled to use a firing squad. "It has the potential to slow it down the first time it's on deck," Brunker said. University of Utah crim- inal law professor Shima Baradaran said she doesn't see a constitutional chal- lenge succeeding because the federal government gen- erally leaves capital punish- ment decisions to the states, and the firing squad has not been declared cruel and un- usual. State laws that allow methods other than lethal injection for executions are not unique to Utah. In Washington, inmates can request a hanging. In New Hampshire, hangings are the default method if lethal injection cannot be given. Outside the U.S., 54 coun- tries allow executions by gunshot, including China, Vietnam, Uganda and Af- ghanistan, according to Cornell University Law School's Death Penalty Worldwide project. Of those, 41 countries allow full firing squads while the others do it differently, such as by a single bullet at close range. Most Utah lawmakers are Mormon, but the firing- squad effort does not seem linked to any teachings or doctrine from the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormon church takes a neutral position on capi- tal punishment, and church leaders declined comment Wednesday on the measure. During the mid-1800s, then-Mormon President Brigham Young promoted the practice of blood atone- ment, the idea that a per- son guilty of murdering an innocent person must shed his own blood as compen- sation, said Philip Barlow, a professor of Mormon his- tory and culture at Utah State University. But that school of thought was abandoned af- ter Young's death, and that part of church history is hardly known by most Mor- mons today, he said. EXECUTIONS Utahvoteforfiringsquadshows frustration with drug shortages RICKBOWMER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Randy Gardner of Salt Lake City, the older brother of Ronnie Lee Gardner, the last inmate to be killed by firing squad in Utah, protests a plan to resurrect the use of firing squads. SUE OGROCKI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS University of Oklahoma senior Connor R. Bourland, right, of Wichita, Kan., leads a visitors tour along the South Oval on the campus in Norman, Okla., Wednesday. The Associated Press NORMAN, OKLA. A video of University of Oklahoma fraternity members engag- ing in a racist chant out- raged and angered stu- dents across the campus, but its release also has sparked a dialogue that many students hope will lead to positive changes at the school. Protests and rallies have been held every day on the campus in Nor- man since the release ear- lier this week of the video, which shows students participating in a chant that referenced lynching and indicates black stu- dents would never be ad- mitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. On Wednesday, a town hall- style forum on diversity sponsored by the black student group Unheard was planned on campus, and a student spokes- woman for the group said the incident appears to be serving as a catalyst for change. "Just the students com- ing together has been a positive for me," said Alexis Hall, a 20-year-old junior from Houston. "I think this is sparking a university-wide movement of: 'Hey, we need to start making some changes. We're going to improve things and make it better for all of our students.'" Among the group's grievances are low num- bers of black faculty and administrators, poor re- tention rates among black students and a lack of pro- grams aimed at support- ing black students. OU President David Boren booted the frater- nity from campus and expelled two of its mem- bers for creating a hostile learning environment. He said that university of- ficials already had been working with Unheard, which formed after the po- lice shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Fergu- son, Missouri, to address some of their concerns and that those efforts will con- tinue. "They met with me. They had some very pos- itive suggestions," Boren said. He said their propos- als included greater repre- sentation of black students at the university's orienta- tion camp and on various committees, to ensure that "the whole range of diver- sity of our campus is rep- resented." On Wednesday, Boren announced the creation of a new position — vice president for the university community. The person in that role, who has not yet been hired, will be respon- sible for overseeing diver- sity programs and will re- port directly to the presi- dent. Also Wednesday, several groups of potential OU stu- dents toured the campus with their parents. Mary Moore and her 16-year-old daughter, Maddi, said they considered backing out of their visit after the video surfaced but changed their minds, mostly because of the swift action taken by Boren. Oklahoma students hope racist video results in change DIALOGUE Landscape/Fence Steve's Tractor &LandscapeService •FenceBuilding•Landscaping • Trenching • Rototilling • Disking • Mowing • Ridging • Post Hole Digging • Blade Work • Sprinkler Installation • Concrete Work Cont. 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