William of Orange was the first head of state assassinated with a firearm. Take a look at the assassins punishment: “The magistrates decreed that the right hand of Gérard should be burned off with a red-hot iron, that his flesh should be torn from his bones with pincers in six different places, that he should be quarteredand disembowelled alive, that his heart should be torn from his bosom and flung in his face, and that, finally, his head should be cut off.”