A securing mechanism for use in a holster, gun safe, base station, recharging/docking
station, gun rack, or other safety housing for a firearm or other item, including
one or more retaining members that engage the trigger guard, barrel, or other part
of the firearm to prevent withdrawl of the firearm from the safety housing by anyone
other than an authorized user of the firearm. The securing mechanism includes a
biometric identification mechanism such as a fingerprint sensor for scanning fingerprint
information of a prospective user of the firearm, and a processor for comparing
the scanned biometric information with stored biometric information of an authorized
user and releasing the retaining member only if the scanned biometric information
matches that of the authorized user.
