In March 1992, a high school student in San Antonio, Texas was arrested for carrying a concealed firearm on school grounds. He violated a federal law that prohibits them within 1000 yards of a school. Lopez maintained that this law was unconstitutional because it exceeded the powers of the federal government while U.S. attorneys argued that the interstate commerce clause allows the federal government to prohibit such activity across the nation because violence with guns indirectly effects commerce. Attorneys on both sides talked to reporters about the arguments over the law, especially the issue of state vs. federal powers over education.