Child Protection Law Published in Official Gazette: Adults Who Fail to Lock Firearms Face Up to Three Years in Prison

The Law on Amendments to the Child Protection Law and Certain Other Laws was published in the Official Gazette today. According to Anadolu Agency, the regulation produces direct consequences in two separate areas.

**First:** Any person who keeps a firearm in a manner contrary to their duty of care and attention — thereby allowing the weapon to be obtained by a child — faces imprisonment of one to three years, provided the act does not constitute a separate and more serious offence. The provision covers every adult who fails to keep their firearm locked; no distinction is made between a parent, a family member, or a roommate.

**Second:** Amendments to the Turkish Penal Code have reframed criminal liability for children aged 12 to 15. If a child in this age group cannot perceive the legal meaning and consequences of an act, or if their capacity to control their conduct is insufficiently developed, no criminal liability shall arise; however, child-specific security measures shall be imposed. Where perception and capacity to control conduct are found to exist: crimes requiring aggravated life imprisonment carry 13 to 18 years; crimes requiring life imprisonment carry 10 to 12 years. For other offences, the sentence shall be reduced by half and capped at nine years per act.

Previously in Turkey, criminal capacity for the 12–15 age group was left to court discretion; the new regulation narrows that discretion by embedding the threshold criteria directly in the statutory text.