From my reading of the laws a locked closet is considered "secure" storage. However, if non-LTC holders have access to it via key, combination etc. then you are not in compliance.
So unless your wife has a permit for whatever firearms you have in the closet, or you live alone and that flower print nightgown is yours 6hold, you would not be in compliance with the law.
This is from my reading, so take with a grain of salt. Can any lawyers confirm my hunch?
Tom
In an extraordinarily bad court decision, based on bad facts for gun owners, there was a man who was caught with an unsecured gun in his bedroom. He claimed his entire bedroom was a secure container.
Unfortunately, the door was secured only by a "convenience privacy lock" like many of us have on our bathrooms. You know the kind I'm referring to -- those locks with a pushbutton in the middle of the bathroom side, and a hole in the knob installed in the hallway.
The court held that a room (or, I suppose, a closet) could only be deemed a secure container for firearms storage if it were secured by a lock secure enough to "deter all but the most determined of burglars."
The court did not go on to detail what this means, but I think one would have to make sure the door was a solid core as LenS suggested, and install and use an exterior quality lock, preferably with a deadbolt, and, if you are cautious person, also install a perimeter alarm.
This would require considerable effort, and woe be it who leaves the house with that closet unlocked and a mess of unsecured guns inside.
Safes and gun lockers are much easier to use, and to secure.
Darius Arbabi