A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 7 April 2013
I've got a question about this strategy card. I searched and found a post that said that you don't have to actually to target a follower or a personality with a ranged attack and could react with no hiding place to shoot a defender. However, does there need to be enemy presence to use ranged attacks so you can react with it or can you use ranged attacks unopposed and then react with this card to shoot the defender's personalities at home?
Mod request: If your question is related to a previous ruling, please include a link to it in your post, so we can remain consistent with what you found. Thanks!
A player, 7 April 2013
As per Emperor Edition rules, the targeting of Ranged Attacks is optional. That means that it is legal to announce an action that creates a Ranged Attack even if there aren't any opposing units to target with it. So you may announce your Ranged Attack action unopposed, then react with No Hiding Place, and choose a Personality without Followers, or a Follower, at home as the target for the Ranged Attack.
See here: In an effect, “Ranged X Attack” (where X is a number known as the strength of the Ranged Attack) is shorthand for “You may target a Follower or a Personality without Followers in the current enemy army. If its Force is equal to or less than X, destroy it.” (Emphasis mine; that bolded "may" indicates that it's optional)