We would need access to the games code for that, and the Devs will not release the code so it makes it imposable

Hmmm that seems like a really basic aggression behavior. I swore I saw a setting somewhere that dictated how aggressive they were "attack on sight" vs "attack after enemy acts"

wouldn't change anything.
only way to get them to attack only when at the gates is to not have people assigned to the turrets and to not have crossbows.
turning off shoot first ask questions later will also help stop that behavior.

there is another strategy
build turrets' in front of the gate only.
Or like putting a building or building them on the ground.
preferably with the ground being higher up so you can shoot down.

"turning off shoot first ask questions later" where is this setting? Is it in the options? I have been looking at the specific character options

its in the ai control options in game.. by sqd i believe.

thank you! I knew I saw that somewhere and I couldn't find it. Turns out that is already off, so that won't help my issue.

sadly there is nothing really else to be done except for what i suggested. there might be tweak's available, but there just is no way to make them wait to fire like you want.

I really hope they get a friendly fire in line of site mod of some kind. Or fix that in Kenshi 2. When I am away I will leave them idle there waiting to defend and every so often someone gets shot in the head and is almost dead before I realize what is going on. If I could mod anything it would be the targeting.

Is there a way to modify another's faction rating to your clan so they are considered almost like intentionally targeting your own people. If there was a check box next to the faction to make them act as clan members/minus gate/stealing rights, that would probably solve it. On/off faction relationship mod toggle

problem is, that friendly fire is part of the game. it was added intentionally. so unlikely it will be removed in the second game.
and it can not be modded.

The most offensive friendly fire is two friendlies manning turrets standing directly next to each other.

I think that accidentally hitting someone standing next to your target downrange makes sense, but right now the placement of turrets on all 3 points of a wall section often results in someone manning a turret on the same wall getting shot.

Shoot your friendly 10' from you when your target is 300' out has to be fixed. That is a very unrealistic mechanic. I can't imagine anyone with a turret skill of 60 would be dumb enough to try and shoot through their friend right next to them.

I think the simplest approach would be to restrict the angle of rotation of turrets to no more than 160 degrees. This would make a 10 degree buffer left and right, and would stop you from shooting your friend directly next to you.

Accidentally downrange is fine. Literally standing next to you is not.

Not sure if it would be possible, maybe make a turret enclosure that is an upgraded version of turrets that has a door and walls to the sides and above covering the character, and not interfering with the turret rotation. There is another solution.