Pratt Street is a major street in Baltimore. It forms a one-way pair of streets with Lombard Street that run west-east through downtown Baltimore. For most of their route, Pratt Street is one-way in an eastbound direction, and Lombard Street is one way westbound. Both streets begin in west Baltimore at Frederick Avenue and end in Butcher's Hill at Patterson Park Avenue. Since 2005, these streets have been open to two-way traffic from Broadway up until their end at Patterson Park ^[1].

To the east of Patterson Park, both Pratt and Lombard Streets start again. Pratt continues as a side street from Linwood Avenue up until Haven Street.

Pratt Street has historic significance as the location of the Baltimore Riot of 1861. Today it is known for being an important gateway into the Inner Harbor, connecting it with the Baltimore Light Rail line. It is for the later reason, the city decided to redesign the street and surrounding area to be more pedestrian-friendly ^[2].

Pratt Street is named for Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden a supporter of Civil liberties in the 18th Century, and not the noted Baltimorian Enoch Pratt (1808-1896). Pratt Street appears on maps of Baltimore as early as 1801. ^[3]

Notable landmarks on or near Pratt Street include:

• Oriole Park at Camden Yards (nearby)
• Baltimore Convention Center
• Inner Harbor/Harborplace and the Gallery
• National Aquarium
• The Power Plant
• B&O Railroad Museum
• Camden Station
• Runs through Little Italy

References[link]

Larry Pratt, September 2011

Lawrence D. Pratt (born November 13, 1942) is the executive director of Gun Owners of America, a U.S.-based firearms lobbying group, and a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Early life[link]

Larry Pratt was born in Camden, New Jersey on November 13, 1942. His father was an electrical engineer. Several years after graduating from American University with a degree in political science, Pratt founded Gun Owners of America.^[1]

Political career[link]

Pratt was elected to the state legislature of Virginia, as a Republican member of the 1981 session of the Virginia House of Delegates, elected from the 19th District in Fairfax County. He was also a Reagan delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention.^[2]

In October 1992, at Estes Park, Colorado, Pratt addressed a three-day meeting of neo-Nazis and Christian Identity adherents organized by Pete Peters in the wake of the Ruby Ridge incident.^[3][4][5] Pratt shared the stage with Richard Butler and Louis Beam. In 1994, Pratt unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the Nevada State Assembly as a Libertarian, winning 27% of the vote.^[6]

In the 1996 U.S. presidential election, Pratt served as a co-chairman of Pat Buchanan's campaign. In February 1996, the liberal Center for Public Integrity issued a report that claimed Pratt spoke at meetings organized by white supremacist and militia leaders. Pratt denied any tie to racism, calling the report a smear aimed at hurting Buchanan before the New Hampshire primary election. However, Pratt was forced to resign his position with the Buchanan campaign.^[7][8][9]

Pratt also addressed delegates at the 1996 national convention of the U.S. Taxpayers Party^[10] (renamed the Constitution Party in 1999).

In Northern Ireland in 2004, Pratt accompanied loyalist and paramilitary sympathizer Willie Frazer on a tour of South Armagh whilst calling for the Protestant population to be routinely armed.^[11]

Political organizations[link]

Pratt has founded a variety of organizations, including English First, Gun Owners of America, U.S. Border Control, and Committee to Protect the Family.^[12]

Pratt is the president of English First, an organization within the English-only movement.^[13] The organization was founded in 1986, and works to pass English Only amendments at both state and federal levels. Pratt also helped found and served as secretary of the Council for Inter-American Security, which was founded in 1976.^[2][12] Pratt has served as a board member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, founded by Paul Weyrich.

Larry Pratt has also been listed as a member of the Council for National Policy (CNP).^[14][15][16] A January 13, 2001 article in The Guardian explored Pratt's relationship with then-Attorney General nominee John Ashcroft, stating they knew each other from the CNP.^[17] The January 11, 2001 edition of TIME Magazine included an article on Pratt and Ashcroft's relationship.^[13]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Pratt used his Committee to Protect the Family organization to raise $150,000 for the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue which paid $50,000 in court-imposed fines.^[18][19]

However, Pratt is also affiliated with the Congress of Racial Equality, one of America's oldest civil rights organizations,^{[citation needed]} and with Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. Anti-gun control advocate Rabbi R. Mermelstein stated, in response to an "Ask the Rabbi" question, that "Larry is a longtime friend of mine. The man doesn't have an anti-Semitic thought in his fertile, patriotic mind."^[20] Pratt's wife is an immigrant from Central America, and they speak Spanish at home.

Radio and Television appearances[link]

Pratt has appeared on numerous national radio and TV programs such as the Today Show, Good Morning America, The Political Cesspool, Crossfire, Larry King Live, Hannity & Colmes, and The Phil Donahue Show.

In reference to the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Pratt declared that Martin was at fault for not running away after knocking down George Zimmerman, who was following Trayvon under suspicion. ^[21] “[Martin] should have run away,” Pratt said. “He had his stalker on the ground. Once Martin had neutralized the threat, that’s when he should have taken off to get out of there. He doubled down, and he started to really beat the tar out of the guy.” Pratt added unsubstantiated facts, which included the claim that Martin was on top of Zimmerman after Zimmerman tried to "citizen's arrest" Martin. The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur posed a hypothetical scenario in which he stalked Pratt, and Pratt proceeded to fight back after Uygur accosted him. Pratt insinuated that Uygur had the right to shoot Pratt once Pratt fought back.^[22]

Books[link]

• Armed People Victorious (1990).
• Safeguarding Liberty: The Constitution and Citizen Militias (1995).
• On the Firing Line: Essays in the Defense of Liberty (2001).

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Larry Pratt

• Gun Owners of America
• English First
• U.S. Border Control
• Virginia House of Delegates: Member Bio
• Larry Pratt, "The People are Part of the Answer," National Crime Monthly 1995
• Fake Globalist Opposition, David Martin, Feb. 13, 1999