South Carolina is set to become the 4th state to allow firing squads to carry out capital punishment. South Carolina Representative Justin Bamberg, Democrat from Bamberg, spoke against a proposal to add firing squads to the state’s methods of execution in Columbia, S.C.Credit...Jeffrey Collins/Associated Press May 7, 2021 Frustrated by the lack of drugs available to carry out lethal injections in their state, South Carolina lawmakers are on the cusp of a controversial solution: forcing death row inmates to face the electric chair or firing squad when lethal injection is not possible. A bill proposing that change, approved by the State House this week, appears almost certain to become law in the next few days, and is being lauded by Republicans, including Gov. Henry McMaster, who have been vexed by pharmaceutical companies’ refusal to sell states the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections. The lack of drugs, they say, is a key reason South Carolina has not executed anyone in 10 years.