Canada is now taking steps to strengthen gun control and ban military-style rifles and assault weapons.

Addressing reporters in Winnipeg this morning, Justin Trudeau said that the Canadian government will be taking "immediate steps" in the coming weeks to ban assault weapons.

The Prime Minister said that strengthening gun control was long overdue.

Trudeau says "it is more than time to strengthen gun control in Canada." #cdnpoli

— Hannah Thibedeau (@HannahThibedeau) January 21, 2020

Trudeau added that the government will be introducing "ammunition restrictions at the border," as well as "strengthening border support to interdict guns flowing in from the United States."

Additionally, they will be "investing in better community supports" and empowering municipalities to ban handguns if they choose to do so.

While there is no legal definition of "assault weapons" in Canada, it generally refers to semi-automatic firearms that can rapidly unload large amounts of ammunition (fully-automatic firearms have been banned since the 1970's).

Restrictions on semi-automatic firearms already exist (e.g. the number of cartridges that a weapon can hold), but Trudeau is now officially taking steps to prohibit the weapons entirely.

Trudeau also said the Canadian government will make the environment a top priority in the coming months, as well as the approval of NAFTA, which he hopes to ratify as "responsibly" and as "quickly as possible" in the House of Commons.

Trudeau also confirmed that he has not spoken to the Queen regarding Harry and Meghan's imminent move to Canada, and has "no updates" on the situation at this time.