First, and foremost, is that whatever transpires in terms of newer COF's being developed, safety has to be the primary focus.
Although I do not completely disagree with what you're suggesting
@JBoomhauer, my only concern would be for driving the MD's crazy. Developing COF's that are fun and challenging is already difficult enough when all gear is considered. I think if you still say "any gear goes, but good luck," you're kind of leaving a heavy burden on MD's to then develop COF's that really fuck with people and their gear. It is great to see, but I know folks can get burned out just trying to develop basic COF's.
At the end of the day, we still need the COF's to be fun...you don't want to make them so obtuse that it ends up being more frustrating than anything else. You have many ranges where barricades and what not have already been established. Personally, I think restricting hardware is the easiest thing to do.
Lastly, the RO's need to be considered as well. I've RO'ed numerous "national-level" and local comps, and I can say one thing...there is nothing more frustrating than when you're trying to manage a stage that has a rather confusing set of standards and target arrays. It pisses the RO's and shooters off and ends up not being a good time.
Obviously, I could be dead fucking wrong in what I'm saying, but I keep trying to view this issue as a competitor, RO and MD. And I sure as hell hope it is all as clear as mud