Dogs are dogs. There are a few breeds that are more likely to attack their owners and many would be surprised with which breeds are most responsible.
I would NOT like to be on the receiving end of a (real) Pit Bull. I've had to protect myself from an attacking Wheaton Terrier. Wasn't fun, but I ONLY suffered a deeply gashed and broken right hand thumb.
I'm sad to say, but at least no other people outside of the owner were harmed.
No, that's not really the axiom. Guns don't jump up and rip throats out. Sure, there are "gentler" breeds that are responsible for more biting incidents. Labs probably bite more kids than most breeds. But that's a bite... Or a nip after an hour of being tortured by some little darling hanging on to his tail and whacking him in the balls with a plastic bat. As troubling as such a bite may be... It's just not the same as a dog who's whole ancestral history has been about fighting and killing. Not biting. -killing-. A lab will bite a hand, but a pit will tear a throat out. The difference is not subtle.