AUSTIN (AP) - Governor Rick Perry today indicated he supports a small, rural school district's decision to let teachers and staff carry guns for protection.

Trustees at the Harrold Independent School District approved a policy change last year to allow employees with permits to carry concealed firearms.

The goal is to deter and protect against school shootings. The 110-student district is 150 miles northwest of Fort Worth on the eastern end of Wilbarger County, near the Oklahoma border. It has about 50 teachers and staffers.

Superintendent David Thweatt has said the small community is a 30-minute drive from the sheriff's office -- leaving students and teachers without protection.

Perry says the issue with handguns is the training and registration.

-- Texas law bands firearms on school campuses "unless pursuant
to the written regulations or written authorization of the
institution."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)