Controlled weapon brought back had damage initially (9)
I believe the answer is:
regulated
'controlled' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'weapon brought back had damage initially' is the wordplay.
'weapon' becomes 'luger' (I've seen this before).
'brought back' is a reversal indicator.
'had' becomes 'ate' (e.g. I had an ice cream).
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'damage' is 'd'.
'luger' back-to-front is 'regul'.
'regul'+'ate'+'d'='REGULATED'
(Other definitions for regulated that I've seen before include "Adjusted, or put under rule" , "Controlled - adjusted" , "checked up on" , "As ordered" .)