I just purchased a Shield last week, and I will admit that the kabooms changed my mind about going with the 40 cal. I chose the 9mm instead. I know these catastrophic failures have been few, but I figure most Smith and Wesson owners aren't on this forum. Which means there are likely many kabooms we haven't even heard about. Going with the 9mm just gave me one less thing to worry about. There have been no Shield 9mm kabooms to my knowledge.