Grand Rapids police have seized more than 265 illegal guns so far this year, up from 254 in 2016 and more than double the 127 guns recovered in 2013.

Police Chief David Rahinsky said, "every time we take an illegal gun off the street, it's a tragedy avoided."

The department began its One More Gun Off the Street program in 2016 to publicly highlight the effort to recover illegally owned or used guns.  It was later rebranded as Keeping GR Safe.

More training and proactive enforcement has led to the increase in gun recoveries, according to police.  Here's more from the Associated Press.

More From 99.1 WFMK