A newly introduced bill in Utah should alarm every American who values self-defense as a fundamental right. House Bill 133, titled Use of Force Reporting Requirements, would require individuals who lawfully use force—including deadly force—in self-defense to report themselves to law enforcement or risk losing key legal protections.

On its face, the bill may sound administrative. In reality, it transforms self-defense into a conditional privilege, not a right. Under HB133, failure to promptly report a defensive use of force could bar an individual from asserting self-defense protections during critical pretrial proceedings, including justification hearings that can dismiss charges before trial.

This proposal is especially concerning because it applies even when force is clearly lawful. The “use of force” definition is broad and undefined, potentially encompassing everything from verbal commands to physical force or firearm use. Citizens who are injured, hospitalized, disoriented, or simply focused on getting to safety could find themselves punished not for wrongdoing—but for failing to meet a reporting requirement.

Utah has long been viewed as a strong self-defense state, recognizing no duty to retreat and providing presumptions of reasonableness in home and vehicle defense. HB133 undermines those protections by shifting the burden onto the victim and creating legal traps that prosecutors can exploit after the fact.

The bill also raises serious constitutional concerns beyond the Second Amendment. By conditioning legal defenses on compelled reporting, the state risks infringing on the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Citizens should never be forced to choose between remaining silent and preserving their constitutional protections.

This is how gun control advances in states that would never pass outright bans—through procedural hurdles, reporting mandates, and technical penalties that make people hesitate before defending themselves. And hesitation in a violent encounter can be deadly.

If this approach succeeds in Utah, it will not stay there. Mandatory self-defense reporting laws could quickly spread to other states under the guise of “reasonable” reform. Self-defense is not a bureaucratic process—it is a natural, constitutional right. Any law that conditions it on paperwork or timelines is an infringement, plain and simple.