Mayors Against Illegal Guns' Mourn Victims of Gun Violence Including ... One of the Boston Bombers?

UPDATE 3:30 p.m. ET – Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office has issued an apology for the anti-gun group’s decision to include Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s name on the list of gun violence victims.

“Alex Katz, deputy communications director for the Mayors Against Illegal Guns campaign, said rally organizers relied on a list compiled by Slate.com of people killed by guns since the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., ‘and his name was on the list,’” Union Leader reports.

Tsarnaev "was absolutely not a victim, his name should have been deleted before the list was provided to a family member for reading and his name should never have been read. It was a mistake, it should not have happened and we sincerely apologize," Katz said.

--

Tamerlan Tsarnaev. (Getty Images)

No, the headline isn’t a joke.

At an event Tuesday supporting Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” movement, gun control advocates read the names of those "killed with guns" since the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newtown -- and the group’s list of victims included Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with the police three days after the bombing. He was also crushed by an SUV driven his brother, Dzhokhar, who fled the scene.

“The rally, which is part of the group’s 25-state bus tour, was held in New Hampshire to protest Senator Kelly Ayotte’s vote against the Toomey-Manchin gun-control bill,” National Review Online explains.

The New Hampshire Union Leader describes the scene:

The presence of the national gun control group in front of the state Capitol Tuesday night prompted numerous shouts from gun rights supporters. While there were about 40 No More Names supporters, there were at least 60 gun rights supporters at the rally.

"I think this is a joke," said Tony Mayfield of Hillsborough, who brought his AR-15 rifle and Sig Sauer T39 handgun to the rally. "We have, for all intents and purposes, a corporation from out of state doing this little publicity stunt here."

Rally organizers, whose bus had Texas license plates, refused to speak to a New Hampshire Union Leader reporter and referred him to the organization's national headquarters.

Some of the loudest shouts came when a reader spoke the name of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects who was killed by police during a gunfight.

"He's a terrorist," several protesters shouted.

So, yes, in an attempt to promote tougher gun laws, gun control advocates in front of their “No More Names” bus saw it fit to refer to Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a “victim” of gun violence.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/secupp/statuses/347364038927319041"]

Gun rights supporters outnumbered gun control advocates by about 60 to 40, according to the Union Leader.

–

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

(H/T: Red State). Featured image Getty Images.