D.C. Adopts Strictest Gun Curbs in U.S. : Controls: Congress’ approval is needed for the measure making dealers and manufacturers liable for deaths, injuries.

The District of Columbia has approved the most far-reaching gun control bill in the nation, a measure to make manufacturers and dealers liable for deaths and injuries caused by semiautomatic weapons.

Mayor Marion Barry Jr. said today that he has signed the bill, which cannot become law until reviewed by Congress.

“I think we have to take all measures to try to get the guns off the streets of America,” Barry said on WTTG-TV’s Fox Morning News. “The manufacturer has to begin to take some of the weight. We don’t need those guns on the streets.”

Barry said everybody who touches guns used in homicides should be held liable.

The measure, which was approved by the City Council last week, would give private citizens the right to sue for damages from manufacturers and sellers of semiautomatic weapons, regardless of where the makers and dealers do business.

The bill will face strong opposition from the National Rifle Assn. when it arrives in Congress for a 30-day review period that begins when Congress returns to legislative business Jan. 23.

Michael Beard, president of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said he believes that the bill would survive a court challenge, although no real precedent exists.

The city already has one of the strictest gun laws in the country. Sales are banned and private citizens are prohibited from owning weapons unless they were purchased and registered before 1976.

Still, the murder toll keeps climbing, from 369 two years ago to 434 in 1989 and 465 with just 14 days left in 1990.