[Ag_Sis]

"The group didn't surrender when police shouted out instructions over a loudspeaker. So about 25 officers entered the ranch."

I'm guessing that this is the crux of the issue here. That, and the fact that the gunshots were heard at night and the police were called after midnight.

There's no issue here in Texas for a few friends to get together in daylight and shoot some clays. BUT gunshots in the middle of the night plus not heeding police instructions plus the high possibility of alcohol being involved.

This issue also goes beyond whether or not these guys know how to properly handle the guns. The gunshots beg the question of what exactly what they were shooting at. Target shooting in the middle of the night with potentially drunk people walking around sounds like a terrible idea. Shooting straight up in the air, Arab Spring-celebration style sounds equally harebrained.

Those guys are lucky that things didn't escalate when they didn't immediately respond to the police's instructions.