Rolling Stone It's Irresponsible to Boycott Our Boston Bomber Cover

Bostonians upset by the new Rolling Stone cover -- featuring Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -- need to grow up and learn from the tragedy that rocked their city ... according to the magazine's editors.

The editors just released a statement, saying their hearts go out to the Boston bombing victims -- but "the cover story we are publishing this week falls within the traditions of journalism and Rolling Stone's longstanding commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage."

The statement continues, "The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens."

In other words, stop burying your heads in the sand, people.

As we reported, CVS and the Boston-based Roche Bros. supermarkets have boycotted the latest issue of the magazine because of its controversial cover ... saying it's disrespectful to the victims.