It doesn't lock. But the machining is good enough that it can be fully examined. I've yet to have anybody "activate" the gimmick during examination. Besides, most of the heat is on the matchbox, which is just a box. (The one that comes with the set isn't a real matchbox. But you could easily switch it for a real one if you wanted, especially if you were doing a restaurant walk-around and wanted to use the house matchbox.)