That's not the point. Get distracted by the "drunks with guns" factor, and you miss it.
Even were there NOT alcohol involved, the press would be trying to end a tradition that evidently goes back hundreds of years, simply because guns are involved.
You can bet that if this were a bunch of drunks the press would just be drinking with them.
I can't help but think if it were purely a celebration of long standing tradition, without alcohol, the press would have a heck of a harder time quashing it. Guns and alcohol just don't mix.