LAS VEGAS -- One newly constructed park is not a welcome addition to a Valley neighborhood, but the county owns it and has given its construction the go-ahead.

A shooting park is being built a mile away from Shadow Ridge High School.

Parents said that in this post-Columbine time, it seems careless to put a gun range so close to a school. They also said the noise from the park could prove a distraction for the students.

County officials, as well as the park's manager, are defending the park's location. Don Turner, the shooting park manager, said it will never be louder than a quiet conversation thanks to noise regulation the county has in place.

Opponents of the new range are passing out fliers at the school Wednesday. Turner said he understands the parents are concerned, but says the safety and sound regulations will protect the students. He added that the shooting range was approved by the city before Shadow Ridge High School was imagined, it just happened the school was built first.

"All the shooting is done toward the north," Turner said. "There will be no errant rounds. It’s a safe facility."

There will be other natural buffers for the range to inhibit sound, county officials said. Those include a wildlife refuge, land from the Bureau of Land Management and no encroachment of any type to its perimeter for at least 100 years.