Pits (and Rottweilers, Shepherds, Dobermans, Mastiffs, etc) are all medium to large dominant breed dogs. Not aggressive; but dominant. In the hands of an inexperienced owner, these dogs can be trouble.
It is unfortunate that the traits that make these dogs so fun to be around can be harnessed by those with evil intent and turned to nefarious purposes. In the hands of an inexperienced or weak owner, these dogs can get out of hand.
But it's not the breed. Pits were sort of the "all American dog" prior to our transiformation into Soccer Mom Nation.
In decades past the German Shepherd was the villianous dog. Then it was the Doberman. Rottweilers had their time of being perceived as Fenris on earth. Now it's the Pits.
The common threads running through all of this idiocy is/was bad / weak / inexperienced owner meets dominant breed dog.
Nothing in that short, anecdotal tale makes it easier to read about people being mauled by Pits; or by any other dog.
But attempting to find a causal link between certain breeds of dogs and people being hurt is to consciously ignore the sickness by focusing on the symptom. If we applied this logic to humans, then would we , by analogy, buy into the theory that all people of a given demographic are "bad" simply because their demographic as a whole commits crimes at a disporportionate rate? Would we suggest that low socio-econmoic status equates to criminal behavior? Hopefully not; because it's certainly not true.
I'm not trying to engage in my own version of flawed logic by attempting to equate humans to dogs. Clearly, that would also be deeply flawed. However, I don't think that the general analogy is too far off. Just as there are numerous factors that contribute to criminality in people; so, too, are there multiple elements of socialization that contribute to the production of dangerous animals.
Banning anything is normally a reaction based in fear and/or lack of information. Breed-specific bans are not different; and they won't correct the problem.
Does anyone really think that the idiot people who can't handle these dogs are just going to go away if Pits are banned? Even the vapid and fearful "..but if we save JUST ONE (fill in the blank), then isn't it worth it?" type of plea won't work here. If you could press a God Button and cause all Pit Bulls on planet earth to cease to exist, would that solve the problem?
I submit that it would not. Because the same idiots who allow Pit Bulls to go bad will go out the next day and do the same thing with Dobermans or Mastiffs. So then what? Ban all dogs over...say...50 lbs? It won't work. Idiots will always find a way to be idiots. The core issue here is to recognize that the instrumentalities of idiocy are not the problem.
The idiots are the problem.
Stupid people find a way to do stupid, harmful things with various combinations of idiocy, alcohol, drugs, automobiles, knives, sticks, fists, feet, knees, and firearms. Fighting stupid people by restricting the access of normal people to the instrumentalities of idiocy just leaves us with a situation where the actions, rights, and property of normal people are restricted by us in an effort to save ourselves from the idiots.