anyone with a half a brain in their head knows guns are not the problem

gun control

Your chart doesn't have the Y axis detailed, what does it represent?

http://www.project.org/images/graphs/Firearms-Crime.jpg
Here is a chart with general gun crime factored in. If anything, guns have been a continuous problem (vastly increased through the war on drugs stages, to be fair).

I don't think many people 'suddenly' think guns are a problem, rather the non-stop media and availability of said information makes people more fixated on the issue than before, yet the position most likely still existed prior.. just a thought.

Just showing wild west wasn't as wild as modern times.

This is actually a Dept. of Justice made graph from a report on homicides. The Y axis is presenting the number of homicides per 100,000 people. I checked the data and they are consistent with the Y axis number.