The botched execution of Clayton Lockett in April and others this year in Ohio and Arizona did not motivate death penalty states from banning the practice, The Associated Press reported.

The last execution in Oklahoma went so badly the state tried to cancel it before it was over. After that incident and Lockett's death, Gov. Mary Fallin suspended executions to review the issues. Yet, the state is set to continue executions mid-January.

The issues states have had with lethal injections led them to try more efficient ways of killing inmates, including gassing. Previously, there was hope that the slow agonizing deaths would make death penalty states question the justification of the practice.

"I think we had a little flash of hope that it would help our cause, but all it did was generate a lot of conversation about it," said Lydia Polley, a longtime member of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, to the AP. "It just led to people thinking of better ways to kill them."

Oklahoma has killed more inmates than any other state besides Texas since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. About 194 inmates have been killed since Oklahoma became a state in 1907, and the practice was even common before that.

"To me, it's a reflection of our frontier culture," Oklahoma historian Bob Blackburn said. "Violence is a part of frontier culture, and vigilante justice has always been a strong element of our history."

Despite what happened to Lockett, about 90 percent of Republican Senator Ralph Shortey's constituents support his agenda in pushing for an alternative execution method.

"The average Oklahoman is saying he got exactly what he deserves," Shortey said. "A lot of people think they should suffer even more than they do. They think the lethal injection is too easy for them."

Unless a federal court appeal stands in their way, Oklahoma prison officials say they have secured the drugs needed to execute the next four inmates that are scheduled to begin in January.

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