Overview
- State Sen. Kevin Payne introduced a constitutional amendment to let people sentenced to death choose between firing squad, lethal injection, or lethal gas, with lethal injection as the default.
- The plan would make the firing squad the required method when the victim was a law enforcement officer and would mandate at least three volunteer shooters with one blank round.
- For the change to take effect, the Legislature must first approve it before it can appear on the Nov. 3, 2026 statewide ballot.
- Opponents warn of increased risks of botched executions and prolonged litigation under the Eighth Amendment and equal protection, citing a 2025 South Carolina firing-squad case and Arizona’s own troubled history with gas and lethal injection.
- Arizona has twice turned to voters to set execution methods, approving the gas chamber in 1933 and switching to lethal injection in the early 1990s, a backdrop critics say argues against expanding methods now.