Tara Samples Akron City Council Councilwoman 5th Ward

July 24, 2020

Open Letter:

Dear Residents of Ward 5 and The City of Akron:

I hear you. I feel your anxiety, I feel your pain.

We must do something about gun violence here in the City of Akron.

We are burying our young at an alarming rate and something must be done about it.

Weak gun laws and unfettered access to firearms have made it far too easy for people to
take their own lives and the lives of others. It is up to you and me as a community, as a
City, to get a hold of the uptick in violence in our City by simply speaking out. We
cannot expect more from anyone if we are not expecting more from ourselves. No, we do
not need a “federal” agency or “national guard” rolling into our city when we can just
simply be our own voice, our own activists, and our own vindicators of justice. We
cannot wait until it affects us personally to want change. We have to want it for our
mothers, our fathers, our grandparents, our children, our grandchildren, for ourselves.

Gun violence has shaped the fabric of our society and our community, by traumatizing
millions and imposing substantial financial burdens that we all share when we are left to
pick up the pieces. However, it is up to us to change our own narrative. No, we are not
the police, and, no we should not do the policing. However, we can police our children
and grandchildren. How? Be showing them the right way, the positive way, the godly
way. That is where we change the narrative, and the outcome.

Again, I hear you and I feel your pain. TOGETHER, we can change our outcome. But,
we must stand together now, not later, not when it’s too late.

Tara L. Samples
Ward 5 Councilwoman

Council Chambers ● Municipal Building ● 166 South High Street ● Akron, Ohio 44308
Phone 330-375-2256 ● Fax 330-375-2298 ● E-mail: ward5@akronohio.gov