Stephanie Espinoza is like a lot of college students across the country concerned about campus safety after a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech earlier this week.

"You're not safe anywhere anymore," said Espinoza, a University of Utah freshman from Los Angeles.

She fears that's especially true in Utah, where concealed weapons are allowed on public university campuses.

A state law that allows students to request a roommate who does not have a concealed weapon permit won't take effect until April 30, long after most students have already filled out their dormitory applications for the fall semester.

"Most people already have done their housing applications. It's very hard to get a room this time of year," she said. "Of course I would have asked" for a roommate who does not carry a gun.

Guns used to be banned at the University of Utah, which has about 2,300 students living on the Salt Lake City campus. But last year, the state Supreme Court decided that campus policy could not run counter to state law, which allows people to carry firearms with a permit.

The Legislature agreed to soften its stance this year by allowing students to request a roommate who does not have a concealed weapon permit, but school officials throughout the state say they're not even sure they could identify students who have permits.

"People who have concealed weapons aren't under any obligation to let us know if they have one. The question is a moot one," said Dallin Young, resident life director at Dixie State College in St. George.

At Utah State University, where about 2,500 students live on the Logan campus, nobody has submitted a written request not to have a roommate with a concealed weapon permit, said housing director Steve Jenson. He said there's also been no discussion of adding a question to housing applications that would clearly identify a weapons-free room as an option.

However, at the University of Utah school officials say they'll update their online housing application questionnaire just as soon as they hear from their legal counsel how they can identify students with concealed weapon permits.

"At whatever point we receive the recommendations, we can alert students that a new question has been added and encourage them to go back online," said Barb Remsburg, associate director of housing. "It'll be interesting. I would say that given the Virginia Tech crisis incident that I know it's on the top of a lot of people's minds."

That includes students like Claire Ratcliffe, a 19-year-old freshman from Lancaster, Pa., who would prefer no guns were allowed on campus and is frustrated a question about concealed weapon permits isn't on housing applications already.

"I think they need to put that up right now," she said. "(Students) deserve that option."

Even some proponents of concealed weapons on campus agree, such as Austin Gray, a freshman from Layton.

"I support the fact that we can have concealed weapons on campus. I think that the tragedy at Virginia Tech would have been a little bit different if they had concealed weapons," Gray said. "But I think if it's a thing you worry about you should have the right to know that (a roommate) has a concealed weapon."