I disagree with OP. Rifles by themselves are already pretty strong, having to retreat to equip is not that a nuissance. I usually use retreated maimed squads to upgrade first, those extra-clicks are not what make me lose the game. I can use the weapons on RE or pathfinders, that is awesome.
Arguments can be made for every POV, but, in the end, it's a design choice, and you can think it's good or bad, but I'm glad that Relic made one. I'm really worried about homogeneization, that sometimes the community seems so hard to want. OKW, for example, suffered a lot because of this, vet5 meaning not so much difference on many units than vet3 on allied units.
This whole design philosophy of being asymmetrical at any cost is ridiculous and subtracts from what the game could be. I feel like Relic makes half their design decisions to be deliberately contrarian and the other half is them winging it as they go.