A firing squad is a group of people with guns who shoot and kill a criminal who has been sentenced to death penalty . The person being shot is often blindfolded. This method of execution has often been used in the military for crimes such as desertion and cowardice .

Few countries use firing squads anymore. Many countries have either stopped using the death penalty or switched to using lethal injection . For example, in the United States , the state of Utah formerly used firing squads, but it now uses lethal injection. However, some countries, such as Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates , still use firing squads. As of 2014, 73 countries still use execution by firing squad, and is the sole method of execution in 45 different countries. ^{[ source? ]}