Last year, a St. George Police Department sniper had to shoot a man who was armed and threatening a small child out in the desert near the Arizona border.

We asked then, would you (or could you) take that shot, that ended a person's life?

Most people who responded to the story said, yes, in fact, they would take the shot. After all, the manic man was holding a child hostage and even hard-core pacifists could justify the action as a move to save an innocent child's life.

Obviously this is a hypothetical. Only one person had to make that choice. But he did, and it likely saved a child's life.

Let's do another one.

In 1975, Gary Gilmore killed two innocent store clerks on consecutive nights in Spanish Fork, Utah.

He didn't have a reason, even saying later he didn't know why he did it.

But the fact remains that two young men -- both newly married and BYU students -- were killed -- execution style -- by Gilmore.

Six months later, just weeks after the ban on capital punishment in the United States was lifted, the Utah State Prison system asked for volunteers to carry out the execution of Gilmore.

The setup was thus: There would be five volunteers selected for a firing squad. The five guns would be preloaded, with four of the five containing bullets and the fifth with a blank.

The firing squad would be behind a wall so neither Gilmore, nor those invited to attend the execution, would know the identity of the people firing the guns.

Gilmore would be strapped to a chair and blindfolded, then a target placed over his heart.

So here's the question again: Would you take the shot?

The scenario is very different from the sniper and the suspect with the kid. This time, it would be an easy shot with a fixed target, and the elimination of a confessed and convicted killer ... and the slight chance that your gun wouldn't even have a real bullet in it.

So again, would you take the shot?

Surprisingly, most people I've talked to said they would not take the shot in this instance.

Remember, Gilmore was a creepy guy and a cold-blooded killer.

Personally, I think I might have volunteered.

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