Firearms and homicide: are they linked as closely in the United States as gun control advocates believe? Do they have a closer link than gun rights advocates are willing to admit?

With gun violence continuing to be a hot button issue, it would seem that now would be the proper time to finally come to a compromise -- one that does not infringe upon the rights guaranteed in the Second Amendment, nor allows firearms in the hands of those with a record of mental illness.

The choice is theirs to make. If state legislators make the right choice between now and the start of the next legislative session in February 2015 and then follow through during the session, Nevada will have the most inclusive voting process in the nation.

In 2010, California voters passed the nonpartisan, "top-two open primary" initiative. The initiative fundamentally changed the purpose of primary elections from one conducted for the purpose of electing private party nominees, to one conducted for the purpose of narrowing the field of candidates, regardless of either the voters' or candidates' party affiliation.

Too many Americans are not engaged in the political process. There are a variety of reasons why, but I think the largest is that they don’t like their choices of candidates. All too often, it is a matter of choosing “the lesser of two evils.”

Going into the California primary on June 3, the race for state Senate District 26 went from one of the least competitive districts in the state to one of the most competitive thanks to the nonpartisan, top-two open primary system.

Transpartisanship is an emerging concept on the political scene. Those who expound the philosophy do not equate it with bipartisanship, which is based on negotiating between the right and left. Nor is it non-partisanship, which aims to put party politics completely aside to solve problems.

Instead, the transpartisan movement aims for people to retain their existing partisan views and allegiances, and yet be able to move beyond these barriers through open dialog, cooperation, and collaborative decision-making.

Colorado’s primary elections are one month away, but will only allow participation from voters and politicians who affiliate with a party. Colorado’s closed primaries effectively force the 36 percent of Coloradans who are unaffiliated with any party to either affiliate or have no say in who will show up on their ballots come November. The Democratic and GOP duopoly on primary elections is especially deficient for voters in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.

Lieutenant governor, a race for an office that is largely ignored and most people don’t care about, has the potential to make an impact during the June 3 California primary -- If we vote.

For over 30 years, only one party (Democratic Party) has won lieutenant governor races (appointments aside) in California. The greater number of registered members of that party -- along with an independent center which leans left -- has created a position which we vote for with zombie-like regularity. Move over and check the box next to D or R.

John Tierney, who narrowly held his Massachusetts congressional seat in 2012, is facing another difficult challenge in the 2014 election season. Tierney, a Democrat, has represented the 6^th Congressional District in northeastern Massachusetts since 1997. In his last re-election, he won by less than 5,000 votes in a bitter fight with Republican opponent Richard Tisei.

What seemed like a long and daunting uphill battle just a few years ago, now seems like an inevitable reality. In the last 11 months, 14 states have had their bans on same-sex marriage struck down, and same-sex marriage is now legal in 18 states, including the District of Columbia.