A Closer Look: America's mass shooting epidemic

The National hears from the head of the Washington DC bureau Tom Watkins

A Closer Look is The National's show where we take an in-depth look at one of the main stories of the week.

Gun crime is a danger that residents in the UAE have no fear of ever encountering while in the Emirates. But across the globe, US residents live in the knowledge that every day, a mass shooting is carried out on home soil.

In the last 10 days alone, a shooting at a party in Alabama has left four teenagers dead, and in Kentucky a bank employee killed five of his colleagues.

However, many who live among the roughly 350 million guns owned in America also tend to look towards the Middle East with criticism about violence and gun death.

This week, the head of The National's Washington DC bureau, Tom Watkins, visited Abu Dhabi and had a chance to look back at his adopted home. With fresh perspective he recounts the reality of living in a country with a worsening gun problem, and very little being done about it.

You can read a more detailed account of Tom's experience here.

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