During the Civil War, both sides used firing squads to kill deserting soldiers. Today, people on death row can choose to die that way in some states.

An inmate on South Carolina's death row has chosen to die on March 7 by firing squad, his lawyer said Friday. Brad Sigmon, 67, who was convicted in 2002 of killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents, would be the first condemned prisoner to be executed by that method in South Carolina and the first inmate to die by firing squad in the U.