Monday August 1 ushered in a day of controversy in Texas as the state's 2015 "Campus Carry" law went into effect, allowing students at public colleges and universities to legally carry concealed firearms on campus.

Upping the controversial ante of this legal landmark is that Monday also marked the 50th anniversary of what many declare the first widely recognized mass school shooting in the United States. On this day in 1966, Charles Whitman, armed with handguns, rifles and a sawed-off shotgun, climbed the clock tower on the University of Texas at Austin campus, opened fire and killed over a dozen people while injuring at least 30 others, according to a CBS News report.

While there are certainly plenty of Texans in favor of this new gun-friendly legislature, it seems that segment of the Lone Star population is significantly dwarfed by individuals in both the scholastic and public spheres alike who vehemently oppose it. There are many who are up in arms over the potential for danger on campuses across the state, particularly given the increasingly violent climate in terms of mass shootings occurring throughout the country in recent years.

"Guns do not have a place on campus," John Fox, a survivor of the 1966 University of Texas shooting told Reuters. "A university is a battleground of words and ideas, and not of weapons."

University of Texas professor Joan Nueberger also opposes the new law, citing its potential impact in terms of stifling academic freedom of expression.

"Guns are designed to hurt people...and if you don't know if someone has a gun in their pocket, you don't know if you're in danger," Nueberger said in a CBS News interview. "We want students to be passionate about what they have to say...without worrying if someone's going to pull out a gun and shoot you."

Alternately, University of Texas at Dallas student Antonia Okafor told CBS News that these types of fears are absolutely unfounded from her perspective.

"Once [students] get a license to carry, it's [not] a license to kill...obviously not...it means someone is wanting to protect themselves if something may happen," Okafor said. "The important thing is that me as an individual, I am able to protect myself. As a law-abiding citizen, I am able to protect myself against someone who is trying to harm me."

The new law, which currently applies only to public universities in the state, does carry with it a number of safety-enhancing stipulations. Among these are that students who plan to take advantage of carrying on campus must be at least 21 years old (or 18, if enlisted in the military) and must pass official classroom and gun range training courses, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to the aforementioned academic institutions, Texas community colleges will legally enforce the "Campus Carry" measure come 2017. This extra time is to allow for officials at these schools to adjust regulations concerning safety and other related measures.

Fox News reports that private colleges and universities across Texas, including schools like Baylor, Rice and Texas Christian (amongst others) may legally opt to ban guns from being brought onto their campuses, thanks to state law.

As of Monday, Texas became the eighth state in the U.S. to adopt mandatory campus carrying laws. The other states with such laws already in place include Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin. Each of these states, however, maintains its own specific regulations concerning possession of firearms on their university and college campuses.