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Bill would would reintroduce the electric chair and firing squads as part of the death penalty

Left: The electric chair in the death chamber at Virginia State Penitentiary in 1991. Right: The computer that controlled the electric chair. The prison was closed and demolished in the early '90s.
Library of Virginia
File: Left, The electric chair in the death chamber at Virginia State Penitentiary in 1991. Right, The computer that controlled the electric chair. The prison was closed and demolished in the early '90s.

A bill moving in the state House this week would reintroduce the electric chair and firing squads as part of the death penalty.

North Carolina hasn't had any executions since 2006 due to legal challenges, and lethal injection is the only legal method here.

The House bill seeks to restart executions for people on Death Row, according to Representative David Willis.

“It gives the opportunity for a criminal on death row to have the choice of their execution method," he said. "It no longer relies solely on the cocktail.”

Opponents say electrocutions and firing squads are inhumane.

North Carolina hasn't used the electric chair since the 1930s. The bill calls for that to become the default form of execution unless the person requests another available method.