Bumping the shield up would be easy. Bumping it up with the current schedule, you would get the shield next then dredd would get his gloves then you would get the next 3 pieces of armor.
GS I have a bit a problem with for a number of reasons. First while I understand for temps its helps our solo DPS considerably, I do not consider it a main weapon. As such I find it hard to justify giving someone a second weapon before others get armor. Second the GS would be 540 coins which is enough for 3 pieces of 180 coin armor. In the grand scheme of things the 3 pieces of armor will help the legion get geared up more than the GS. This is was one reason I weighted weapons and especially secondary weapons heavily.
The end goal is to have everyone geared and that means getting secondary weapons too but at this time I just don't think it's the best move. Feel free to state your points if you disagree.
-Zan