Thank you for your comment.
When a checkpoint is restarted the weapon should spawn back where it was. I would be interested in learning what part you got stuck on as it seems like I missed something important.
I had ideas for ways to better differentiate between the two levels (custom assets, different environment, weather etc) however I thought it would be too ambitious given the deadline. If I continue to work on this project further I would improve on that and maybe even add a story element.
Thanks again for your feedback, it has been a big help.