The University of Texas at Austin will be the site of a mock mass killing on Saturday that gun rights activists say is aimed at protesting efforts to restrict the right to carry firearms on campus.

The organizers have countered charges that the event was in bad taste given the Dec. 2 incident in San Bernardino, California, in which Islamic terrorists killed 14 individuals and wounded more than 20, by saying that the mock shooting had been planned a long time before, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But the fact that the San Bernardino county office that came under attack had been classified as a gun-free zone only underlines the protesters' point, suggested Matthew Short, a spokesman for the gun rights groups "Come and Take It Texas" and DontComply.com.

"We're doing this to demonstrate that gun-free zones kill people," Short told the Los Angeles newspaper. "These mass shootings are getting out of control. There are a lot of politicians who are trying to use them to restrict people's rights," the 34-year-old construction worker added.

Event organizers said the mock shooting would be akin to a "theatrical performance" and would include a an "Open Carry walk" and then the "Crisis Performance event," the Dallas Morning News detailed. But "Come And Take It Texas" founder Murdoch Pizgatti told the Austin American-Statesman that "we're not planning on disrupting or panicking people."

"It's going to be an over-dramatization of these types of events," Pizgatti explained. "It's not going to be a realistic event," he admitted.

Nevertheless, the gun rights activist apparently are not welcome on the University of Texas campus, and an unidentified UT-Austin spokesman told the Dallas Morning News that their group should relocate the events off campus or potentially face criminal trespassing charges. Pizgatti retorted that if necessary, the protesters would assemble in a spot adjacent to the campus.

Christina Adams, a supporter of a campus group called "Gun Free UT," said she was appalled by the entire mock shooting idea, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"It's just insane, crazy they even want to stage this," Adams said. "What kind of people are these? No conscience? They're not students. They're not faculty. They're just adults who love their guns," she added.