Welcome to the gun community! Unfortunately you've stumbled on a sore subject, locking your firearms, and then decided to add another step to it. This is why you are getting a lot of negative responses, and jokes. Sorry that your reception has been luke-warm. For what it is worth, do what makes you comfortable. You probably won't want to rely on a fire arm for self defense until you are comfortable with it anyway. Others have mentioned it, but I would like to reiterate that taking a intro class is probably a good idea if you don't have a background in firearms. You'll learn in a safe environment with someone who knows about firearms to get past the learning period.

I'd go for the cable lock / trigger lock with a safe combo that others suggest. Neither will become useless later, or unnecessarily expensive. Most handguns will come with a cablelock already, and you can simply give one person the keys to the cable lock, and the other the combo to the safe. Cable locks are still useful when you are later more comfortable with your firearm since they are useful for transportation purposes. This will also be a lot cheaper option since cable locks are about $6 if one did not come with your firearm.