A hand cutter with a blade guard providing the highest possible protection from accidental cutting. The blade guard can be effortlessly activated from the locked position by a trigger, which is achieved by closing the hand around the cutter handle. The released blade guard remains in the released state until the blade has been put to use by cutting the object, when the blade guard release is removed so that the blade guard is automatically relocked as soon as the blade guard returns to the initial protected position.