TRNC prepares amendments to firearms law: limit to rise from 5 to 11 guns

The TRNC is preparing a reform of its firearms legislation: the maximum number of guns that one owner may possess will rise from 5 to 11. The firearms bill is before the Parliament’s Legal Committee and updates the current Chapter 57 — the basic firearms law.

The limit is being increased separately by category: for hunting, from 3 to 7 firearms, and for target shooting, from 2 to 4. For gun shops, the permitted stock on the premises will change from a range of 15–100 firearms to 30–200.

At the same time, access rules are being tightened. A Firearms Commission is being established: for pistols and rifled guns, in addition to approval from the Council of Ministers, its opinion and mandatory owner training will be required. A separate new article sets out what happens to firearms after the owner’s death, while those whose permits have expired will be given one year to renew them.

State fees, which were previously fixed in lira, will be linked to the gross minimum wage so that they do not lose their value. The age at which teenagers may take part in target shooting is also being revised.

A separate block of amendments concerns sport and tourism: foreign athletes will be able to practise target shooting in the TRNC, while local shooters will be able to use the firearms they have paid for on an equal footing with athletes in other disciplines. The drafters expect this to help develop shooting tourism.

UBP MP Yasemi Öztürk, chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs, Political Affairs, International Relations and Defence, said the bill should develop sport shooting and improve shooters’ competitiveness on the international stage without compromising safety. The amendments also bring TRNC rules closer to the standards of the European Union and the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).