It is well known that handguns account for a substantial portion of murders. This has led some people to claim that stricter handgun regulations would help curb the murder rate in the United States....

It is well known that handguns account for a substantial portion of murders. This has led some people to claim that stricter handgun regulations would help curb the murder rate in the United States. Others, though, say that tougher gun laws would not work because people who are motivated to kill but who cannot obtain a handgun will simply find a different weapon instead. This is called a substitution ef ect. If the substitution effect is operative, then there should be a negative correlation between handgun and knife murders. The following table contains data from a random sample of states. For each state, the handgun and knife murder rates (per 100,000 state residents) are shown. Using an alpha level of .01, test for a negative correlation between the variables. Use all five steps. If appropriate, interpret the sign, magnitude, and coefficient of determination.