The M9 is a few years behind the latest and greatest developments in handguns. Once something is accepted and implemented by the military it becomes a standard that everyone is familiar with. So, some of the noise surrounding the M9 is just because it is a standard of comparison. Also, if you issue a soldier anything they will complain about it; it’s the god given right of any enlisted member to complain.

This will sometimes give people a negative impression that may not be totally warranted.
For its purpose it is a fine firearm. It is a gun designed to be carried by people whose primary job is not to close with and destroy the opposing forces using direct fire. In the military if you find yourself using the M9 to hold off the hoards of savages many things have gone desperately wrong with no time for correction. I believe that in those cases you are allowed to use your last round on the idiot who got you into that situation.

The M9 is made to be fired by the nurses and lawyers who work for the military; and most of them manage to fire it with an acceptable degree of proficiency with minimal or no training. The Army has plenty of 5 foot 90 pound nurses that shoot the M9 like a champ.
Chief complaints:
-On the civilian market the price is high.
-It is not a concealed carry gun and is heavy.
-The first shot = double action adds difficulty
So on the civilian market with the whole world to choose from I would pick something else, but that is not due to any shortcoming on its part as an issue firearm. I’m guessing that’s why it doesn’t show up as often in competitions also.
P.S. If the safety engages when you rack the slide it needs to be serviced. The military added this to the user level inspections a couple of years ago.
Edited, I got off topic.