Gray declined to comment on Tamaki’s case.
“However, generally speaking this sort of action is not uncommon.
“A person’s licence can be temporarily suspended while the firearms regulator investigates further, to ensure the licence holder remains ‘fit and proper’ to possess a firearm.”
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki at his home in South Auckland. Photo / Jason Dorday
It comes after Tamaki made a reference on a recent podcast to using a shotgun to protect his family.
The controversial Christian leader also said “let’s purge New Zealand of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims” in reference to claims that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was targeting Indian Christians with threats and violence.
“And, while we’re at it, if they’re burning churches down, why don’t we burn mosques and their temples down? Tit for tat,” Tamaki said on social media this month.
Tamaki’s comments sparked opposition from religious, ethnic and multicultural leaders, while Act MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar said she asked police to investigate whether Tamaki broke the law.
Wellington Anglican priest Scottie Reeve told the Herald Tamaki wants to “mandate a vision of a theocracy”.
“There are two very different visions of Christianity,” Reeve said in a statement.
“There’s what Jesus put forward, where he talked about us ‘salting or seasoning the world’ as Christians and being a positive influence.
“Then there is Brian’s perspective, which we’re seeing come from [Donald] Trump and lots of his acolytes and folks around the world, which is instead of Christians being a positive influence on the world, we’re meant to ‘dominate and control’ the world.
“Jesus steps into people’s lives with hope; Brian instead wants to mandate a vision of a theocracy.
“We are in a moment globally of fear and uncertainty – economically, politically, socially. And in those moments, as you saw in the 1930s and in other moments in history, we tend to look for someone to blame, and often migrants and foreigners, those who are different from us, are an easy place to scapegoat.”
Reeve said that Jesus himself was “a migrant and a refugee in his life”.
“If Brian doesn’t think there’s room for migrants, then he’s actually saying there’s no room for Jesus.”
Asked for comment on Tamaki having his guns seized by police, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour told reporters that he’s got “zero time for Brian Tamaki”.
“Whatever the police have done is subject to the law,” Seymour told media in Wellington. “I hope that the police have acted within the law. In fact, I’m sure they will have. If he’s got any complaints, he should take them through the proper legal channels and possibly stop being a d***head.”