Child Protection Law No. 7593 in effect: Negligence with firearms carries prison time, age reduction may be eliminated for ages 15-18

Law No. 7593, titled "Law on Amendments to the Child Protection Law and Certain Other Laws," was published in the Official Gazette and entered into force. According to our reporting, the law amended multiple fundamental statutes, including the Turkish Penal Code, Law No. 6136 on Firearms, the Child Protection Law, the Misdemeanors Law, and the Criminal Execution Law.

With its most concrete provision on firearm storage, a person who negligently stores a firearm in a manner contrary to their duty of care and attention, thereby enabling a child to obtain it, shall be punished with imprisonment of 1 to 3 years, provided the act does not constitute a more serious offense. This provision had been the subject of ongoing debate in controversial cases because the previous law lacked a clear clause directly addressing this conduct, creating a gap in application.

The age reduction provision in Article 31 of the Turkish Penal Code became the most discussed amendment in judicial circles. For perpetrators aged 15-18 who commit intentional murder or aggravated assault resulting in injury, judges may withhold the mandatory age reduction if the severity of intent, the motive pursued, the manner of committing the offense, or previous conviction for an intentional crime is present. Similar discretionary authority was introduced for the 12-15 age group.

With the law, the phrase "child in conflict with the law" in existing legislation was changed to "child in judicial process"; defense attorneys evaluated this terminological difference as an important symbolic step.