Every time I see the guillotine mentioned as a tool that might come in handy again I'm reminded that… you guessed it… its actual history is a bit embellished. It solved one problem: efficient, uniform judicial killing, so noblemen (only ~15%) no longer got the sword while peasants the wheel.
Not-so-fun fact: France used it until 1977. It remained a legal option until 1981.
It really isn't a good symbol once you know that under Hitler some 16'000 people were guillotined - including Sophie Scholl.