Hi Manny,
It appears to be brand new because it is! I know as I'm the one that sold it to you
I had some problems with the first gun I had as the firing pin retainer had movement and locked the slide back once at the range. I never had any other problems with that first gun as all I fired in it was Gold Dot's. As he gun was new I sent it back to the company and Karl told me the retainer was out of spec and sent me the gun back with a new top end on it. He then proceeded to tell me that this "would never happen again" When I got the gun back I took it to the range and put 4 magazines of Gold Dot's through it and when I was finished and cleaning the gun I noticed the firing pin retainer on the returned gun was also loose. I then contacted the company once again and they were very nice and sent me a brand new gun (the one that I sold to you).
I have a lot of cool guns and the R9 was my favorite gun and the best CC gun I have ever had. I did not like the firing pin retainer deal though as this was the only flaw, or potential flaw I could see in the design. On the entirely brand new gun they sent me that you now have the retainer is tight, but instead of potentially having another problem once the gun was fired I opted to sell it.
I would encourage you on your other R9 and others to check the retainer on occasion as the possibility does exist for it to come loose and move and subsequently hold the slide open.
My FFL told me this would not bother him as if it happened to him he could machine the retainer so this would not be a problem. I however am not that skilled in this area :-)
If you have any questions please let me know.