I personally think that trigger locks only solve half the problem -- preventing an unauthorized person from being able to fire your gun but it will not prevent them from being stolen.
I don't know what your particular situation is or how many guns you wish to secure but this is what I do (as I have a little one who gets into everything -- give her a room full of toys and she'll want to play with the remote or the telephone):<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI> I have a mid-size safe which weighs about 400 pounds and is bolted (from the inside) to a cement foundation. It's made out of hardened [sic] steel (I'm not sure if that is the correct term but it's the type of steel that you would need special tools to break into -- a regular drill or saw won't even make a dent in it) and it's about 4 feet tall by 2 feet wide and 18 inches deep. It's large enough to hold my guns plus a couple of flashlights, ammo, important papers and other valuables. At the same time, it is small enough that it doesn't take up a lot of space and I'm even able to keep it hidden from plain sight with other household items. If somebody breaks in and finds it, they're not going to be able to carry it away unless they blast the foundation apart and they won't be able to break into it unless they're an expert safe cracker. Obviously, my little one will not be able to get into it as well. I purchased it from a
local dealer and I paid a little over $1,000 (with tax & installation). I don't know if that was a good price or not.
<LI> I also keep a couple of handguns in a security boxes made by
V-Line which I have bolted to the floor and to a heavy piece of furniture. While it does not offer the same level of secirity as the safe, I feel that it is still better than a trigger lock because it still secures the weapon from being stolen. Obviously, with some effort, they could unbolt the box or take the heavy piece of furniture that the other is bolted to with them but I'm working on the assumption that they will want to be in and out of the house as soon as possible and will concentrate on other items that they can move more quickly such as the TV, VCR, camcorder, computer, etc. Additionally, I find it highly unlikely that they will be able to open the security box as it has 6561 different possible combinations that you can reset and I suspect that they will not want to spend the time trying a majority of them. Additionally, I feel that it will also prevent my little one from getting her hands on the guns as well since not only are the security boxes hidden, but it is also unlikely that she'll get the combination open -- I feel that there would be a higher chance of her finding a gun and the key to the trigger lock than her finding the security boxes and figuring out the combination. I keep my home defense gun in one security box and my everyday CCW in another security box. I did some experimentation and found that I could get the gun out of the security box faster than I could get a trigger lock off. Plus, with a trigger lock, you have to first get the key and then go for the gun while with the security box, you go directly for the gun. As I've mentioned, I keep my home defense gun in the security box so that I'll have quick and ready access to it in case the need arises and I also keep my everyday CCW in other box so that I don't have to open the safe every day. I usually open the safe about once a month when I take out a gun, or two, to go shooting at the range. At the same time I throw in some desiccant (those little pouches when prevents moisture from building up and thereby causing rust) bags and remove the old ones.</UL>
To answer your final question, the two guns in the security boxes are loaded since I may need to use them in a moments notice (by the way, I also keep a loaded, spare magazine for each gun in the security boxes as well). The pistols in the safe have a magazine inserted and a spare fully loaded magazine right next to each gun but no bullet in the chamber. The revolvers are not loaded but they too have two loaded speed loaders next to each gun.
This may not work for everybody but I found that it is a good system for me based on my situation. I hope that this has been of some help to you. Regards.
Share what you know, learn what you don't
[This message has been edited by FUD (edited March 22, 2000).]