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Texas' controversial campus carry law will go into effect Monday,聽the 50th anniversary of a shooting on campus at the University of Texas in Austin.

The university is holding an official memorial of the 1966 shooting for the first time on Monday. Fifty years ago, 25-year-old Charles Whitman brought a collection of weapons to the top of the clock tower and killed 14 on campus, wounding more than 30. He had killed two family members before the campus shooting, and another victim died of wounds received in the attack 35 years later, bringing the death toll to 17.聽

As the ceremony takes place on Monday, the open carry of firearms on campus will be permitted for the first time. Victims of the shooting have spoken out against the campus carry law, especially the timing of the enactment of the new rules.聽

"Guns do not have a place on campus," said聽John "Artly" Fox, who at a 17-year old student in 1966 helped a pregnant woman who had been shot in the stomach.聽"A university is a battleground of words and ideas, and not of weapons."聽

That woman,聽Claire Wilson James, survived the attack that killed her unborn child. She has also spoken out against the聽concealed聽carry on聽campus.聽

Texas's campus concealed carry law allows anyone 21聽or older with a Texas handgun license to carry a concealed weapon on campus, as the Washington Post reported. The license can be obtained after passing a class and gun-range test, with restrictions for convicted felons, people charged with high-level misdemeanors or felonies, and those with a history of mental illness.聽

Guns will generally allowed in聽buildings, classrooms, and dorms, with each public school mandated to set guidelines. At UT Austin, teachers will be allowed to designate their offices as gun-free zones.聽 Private colleges and universities are given the opportunity to opt out entirely.

Supporters of the legislation argue that "good guys" with guns are the best way to counteract the danger of a possible campus shooting.聽

"An armed society is a safe society, so any time you have gun control, there is far more opportunity to become victims," Republican State Representative Jonathan Stickland, who supports the measure, told the New York Times. "The criminals aren鈥檛 going to obey the laws. It鈥檚 the responsible folks who we should be encouraging to protect themselves in the community they live in."

But many college leaders opposed the bill, which will make Texas one of eight states to allow the carrying of concealed weapons on public college campuses. University of Texas聽chancellor聽William McRaven, the former commander of United States Special Operations, and an unlikely opponent of the legislation, says that guns on campus would not make anyone safer.聽

"The presence of handguns at an institution of higher learning is聽contrary to our mission of education and research, which is based on inquiry, free speech, and debate,"聽University of Texas at Austin President Gregory Fenves wrote in a letter to Mr. McRaven.聽

Students at UT Austin have also been聽skeptical聽of the new聽legislation. The Times reported a large majority of the students they interviewed聽were聽opposed聽to the legislation.聽

The student survivors of the 1966 shooting generally echo a similar sentiment, and are upset about the timing of the enactment.聽

"I marvel at the tone-deafness of the Texas legislature," Anthony Cannella, who was on campus during the shooting and had to dive for cover, wrote for the Hartford Courant.聽"Why did it latch onto the first day of August this year to usher in a controversial 'campus carry' gun law passed last year over protests by faculty members, students and dissenting lawmakers?"