Mass shootings at El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, over the weekend that left a total of 31 people dead and more than 50 wounded are sobering reminders of the violence and hatred in our society.

As of Sunday, there have been more mass shootings in our country so far this year than days — 251 vs. 216. Although there is no universal definition of what constitutes a mass shooting, a general consensus puts the number of killed or wounded at three or more.

The last time the mass shooting toll topped days of the year was in 2016, when there were 382 — the most in any year since the Gun Violence Archive started keeping track. The past two years were not far behind, with 346 in 2017 and 340 in 2018.

The mass shootings include five high-profile rampages in the past week and a half in which more than 100 people were shot. In addition to El Paso and Dayton, the others were in Gilroy, California; Brooklyn, New York; and Southhaven, Mississippi. Before the El Paso attack, the deadliest mass shooting of 2019 happened in a municipal building in Virginia Beach where a former city employee killed 12 people and injured four.

Living in small communities such as Weissport, New Philadelphia, Slatington, Walnutport and Kresgeville might give us the false sense of security that it can’t happen here, and we pray that it never does, but the truth is that it can happen anywhere. We need look no further than the area’s largest city, Allentown, to see an example of what activist Hasshan Batts, executive director of Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, calls a “city under siege.”

Allentown’s summer of discontent has resulted in more than 25 people being shot by gunfire since the beginning of June. The most recent happened last week when police shot and killed an armed gunman who was randomly firing his weapon into the air more than 20 times in Center City, then aimed his gun at police who had tried to take him into custody.

While the numbers in Allentown are striking, they did not result in multiple deaths such as those in El Paso and Dayton, so they did not get the same kind of national attention.

Among the Allentown incidents, 10 were wounded in one of our area’s worst mass shootings ever when some suspected gang members opened fire outside of the Déjà Vu night club. This was one of seven shootings in June in Allentown, and by far the most dramatic.

There has been just one arrest in the nightclub shootings — the driver of the getaway car. Police say three shooters — two with assault rifles — fired into a crowd leaving the club at closing time.

A woman was killed July 12 in a shooting on Church Street in Center City, Allentown, while children were playing. There has been no arrest in this case.

Several days earlier, the owner of the Maingate Night Club and one of his security guards were shot and wounded in the club’s parking lot. Both are recovering from their wounds.

It is sad to see what is happening in Allentown, because the city is in the midst of a revitalization with its downtown development, trendy restaurants and PPL Center, home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms minor league hockey team, and venue for many big-name entertainment acts that have attracted thousands to the downtown area.

It wasn’t that many years ago when area residents would not set foot in Allentown, branding it as a dangerous place to be, especially after dark. This attitude was gradually shifting as the city spruced itself up and the crime rate dropped dramatically.

But now, all of those past fears are returning, and city officials are concerned that the gun violence that has sprung up this summer will undo much of the progress of the past decade.

Interim Mayor Ray O’Connell, members of the city council and concerned citizens group have been meeting to try to come up with a game plan to reduce the violence and to return a sense of normalcy to the city.

In one of the first meetings in mid-July, as city officials and community members were meeting, a man was shot at an apartment complex not far from the meeting site. He did not have life-threatening injuries, but it underscored the irony of the situation.

The city is in the midst of a mayoral election to see whether O’Connell, a Democrat, or Tim Ramos, the Republican nominee, will head the city for the next four years starting in January. Not surprisingly, gun violence and public safety are front and center as major issues.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com