At 3 p.m. on the Parkway, a driver pulled a gun on me for no reason

I’m a lawyer, a former prosecutor, and a career public servant. But more importantly, I’m a proud lifelong Philadelphian and I’m never leaving — even after having a gun pulled on me.

On Friday, Sept. 16, like most days, I called an Uber to drive me home from Center City, where I work, to Mantua, where my husband and I recently bought a home. But this day wasn’t like most days.

On the Parkway, out of nowhere, another driver started laying on their horn at us. My driver and I were confused; she was driving safely at a normal speed, and we couldn’t figure out why the other driver was upset. A few blocks later, when we were in front of the Art Museum, the other driver pulled into the bike lane on our right and cut us off, still beeping the horn. We both pulled up to the streetlight in front of the ramp to get on the Spring Garden Bridge. Then the driver in front of us — also a woman — leaned out of her window and pointed a Glock at us.

Somehow, I managed to stay calm. The woman was screaming at us while pointing the gun, but our windows were up so we couldn’t hear what she was saying. I told my driver to say nothing, don’t engage, and I put my phone in my lap and dialed 911, then wrote down her license plate number. Thankfully, the gun-wielding driver eventually sped off. I gave police a description and details of the incident. The whole thing lasted less than a minute.

Afterward, I wasn’t scared or angry. I was sad.

Afterward, I wasn’t scared or angry. I was sad.

I’ve never lived outside of Philadelphia. I went to public school here, attended Temple University, and have spent my entire career working on behalf of city residents. I bought a home in West Philly as an investment in the city and its future. I plan to stay in Philadelphia forever and I can’t envision living anywhere else. But I also can’t remember a time in my life when it was ever this dangerous, this saturated with guns and gun violence.

Having a gun pulled on me could’ve been the final straw in a week where it seemed gun violence was closing in. On Sept. 9, a recreation center employee was killed one neighborhood away from where I live. A few nights later, gun shots rang out in front of the Mantua Haverford Community Center, my new polling place. And let’s not forget our current crime stats — roughly 400 homicides and over 3,000 shootings so far this year. This summer, an average of eight people were shot every day in Philadelphia. The end of summer hasn’t brought an end to the violence: On Tuesday, five teenagers were shot outside their school in Roxborough; one, 14, was killed.

» READ MORE: A weekend of gun violence in Philadelphia shows the incalculable, yet cruelly normal, level of trauma that residents must endure.

Philadelphians don’t want and don’t deserve to live like this. Just like me, there are many other residents across the city who have experienced gun violence for no apparent reason.

There are two things I took away from my experience: There are too many guns on our streets, and too many people who are willing to use them in any situation.

I have spent several years working on public safety issues on behalf of City Council, but we still need greater participation at the city, state, and federal level to reduce the oversaturation of guns in our city. This is something that many other people have called for.

But we are never going to completely rid the city of guns, so the second part is critical: I don’t believe we are doing enough as a city to help people learn about other ways to handle their emotions and disputes without reaching for their guns. Even if my driver had unknowingly upset the other driver, pulling a gun on us was not a reasonable response. We left the interaction with no idea what the problem was, so there was no resolution. The gun achieved nothing.

We need to help people understand that when they are upset, pulling a gun is not the best option, whether that be through mandatory conflict resolution courses in our schools or promoting outreach from the families of murder victims to show people — of all ages — the true consequences of gun violence.

All of these suggestions require resources, I know. But think how many resources are being spent on dealing with the aftereffects of gun violence. What if we put a little more of that into ensuring people don’t reach for the gun in the first place?

While I don’t blame anyone who chooses to move out of the city, we also need people to commit to staying while Philadelphia faces one of its most challenging and violent times in recent history.

I am committed to staying. The day after the incident on the Parkway, I didn’t hole up in my house, or change any plans. I left my house, I called another Uber, and I went about my business. I decided to live in Philadelphia, and that means living my life as I would live it anywhere else. I just try to have faith that I’m not going to be the next shooting victim.

Philadelphia wasn’t always like this, which tells me it can change. We can lessen the grip of gun violence on our city, but only if every person in Philadelphia is willing to say we are not going to live like this anymore.

Samantha J. Williams is a director of legislation and policy for Philadelphia City Council.