A firearm monitoring system according to the present invention senses the position of a user hand or trigger finger on a weapon and generates a warning, notification, status or control signal when the user finger position is proximate the trigger. One embodiment generates and conditions an excitation stimulus (e.g., interrupted by the presence of a trigger actuator), drives a sensor with that stimulus, detects the user finger position through a change in the sensor output, and generates an appropriate signal for a downstream warning or other device (e.g., alarm, radio unit, laser sighting system, etc.). In this embodiment, the sensor may detect the presence of an object or finger penetrating a trigger guard plane. Another embodiment utilizes a set of sensors to detect the placement of a user trigger finger relative to the trigger. In addition, various types of output alarms may be utilized (e.g., visual and audio alarms, etc.).