Sorry, but any argument citing Merritt Clifton and his so-called, "study," are specious at best. You may want to research the man and his methodology if you're going to cite him as a reference you expect others to take seriously.
I will, thanks. Not all sources are reliable, for various reasons. Back later.
Thanks for suggesting I research Merritt Clifton. I did take a closer look at him and what is written about his work, and also at the research he did which is apparently so controversial. That statistical chart with notes is here : http://www.dogsbite.org/pdf/dog-attack-deaths-maimings-merritt-clifton-2014.pdf
This 11-page pdf document, quite detailed, with copious notes and commentary, shows the incredible rise of death and disfigurements by pit-bull type dogs over a 32-year period. If anything, he understates the numbers.
I also looked at the current (2015-2016) statistics for bites, maulings, maimings, and deaths by pit-bull-type breeds, also called Molossers. Human deaths in the USA alone, not including maulings or other countries, are up to about one every two weeks. See www.pitbulldeaths.info
So, unfortunately, his statistical work appears not only to be accurate, but this trend is accelerating. At the time of his work, the death rate for these dog attacks was about one every 17 days. It’s down to one every 14 days now.
More as I investigate further.