0. I sure hope the OP's buddy recovers well. Hope OP can talk some self-defense sense into him, vis a vis firearms.
1. The APBTs I knew in my younger years were good dogs and did their job (catch dog) well.
2. No doubt they were generally more tough than your typical labrador. Some other breeds are more capable of killing an adult human, but APBT are more common and much cheaper to get than, say, Presa Canarios.
3. Then APBT became popular with urban joggers and the usual "give a [bleep] an AK47" results occur.
4. Would not seek one out as a pet. A healthy well-bred (as catch dog) male APBT is still in the 65-75lb range with some terrier characteristics. That is a whole lot of terrier and harder to manage than our inherited 15lb rat terrier.
5. If you really want a bully breed dog, the American Bulldog is a nice alternative. A bit bigger, but no terrier bred into them. The Scott line would be my choice, as I prefer the rangier build.
