In its first front page editorial since 1920, it said it was "a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency".
In a column titled "End The Gun Epidemic in America", the newspaper said: "It is past time to stop talking about halting the spread of firearms, and instead to reduce their number drastically - eliminating some large categories of weapons and ammunition.
"Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership.
"It is possible to define those guns in a clear and effective way and, yes, it would require Americans who own those kinds of weapons to give them up for the good of their fellow citizens."
US-born Syed Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, died in a shootout with police hours after Wednesday's attack on a holiday party at a social services centre in San Bernardino.
The attack - which saw the pair storm into the building and open fire with assault weapons - is being investigated by the FBI as an "act of terrorism".
Citing other deadly mass shootings in Colorado, Oregon, South Carolina. Virginia and Connecticut, the paper argued: "Let's be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism."
The New York Times editorial follows a call by The Daily News on Thursday for stricter gun controls, in which it accused Republicans in Congress of "saluting the flag of the National Rifle Association", which supports Americans' right to keep and bear arms.
The debate over gun control has been a long-running contentious issue in the US.
President Barack Obama has urged stricter gun controls, but they have been fiercely opposed by Republicans in Congress.
In his statement on the California shooting, he called for all US lawmakers to make it "a little harder" for individuals to get access to weapons when they wanted to use them to harm others.
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