An igniter (or lighter) having a safety lock includes a housing; a gas supply in the housing and having an outlet valve; a combustion nozzle fluid connected to the outlet valve; a conventional igniter for igniting gas at the outlet nozzle; a finger-operable slider for opening the outlet valve and activating the igniter to ignite the gas when the slider is moved from its rest position; a finger-operable thumbwheel having a lock position for blocking movement of the slider from the rest position, and a spring biasing the thumbwheel to the lock position, wherein movement of the thumbwheel from the lock position is by finger operation in a direction opposite to finger operation of the first movable member from the rest position.