Larry Pratt
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Lawrence D. Pratt (born November 13, 1942) is the
executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...
emeritus of
Gun Owners of America Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a gun rights organization in the United States. It makes efforts to differentiate itself from the larger National Rifle Association (NRA) and has publicly criticized the NRA on multiple occasions for what it consi ...
, a United States-based firearms
lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...
group, and a former member of the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...
.


Early life

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 Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
, Pratt took the helm of
Gun Owners of America Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a gun rights organization in the United States. It makes efforts to differentiate itself from the larger National Rifle Association (NRA) and has publicly criticized the NRA on multiple occasions for what it consi ...
in 1976, one year after the organization was founded.


Political career

Pratt was elected to the state legislature of Virginia, as a
Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
member of the 1981 session of the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...
, elected from the 19th District in
Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...
. He was also a
Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
delegate to the 1980 Republican National Convention. In October 1992, at
Estes Park, Colorado Estes Park is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States Census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Cor ...
, Pratt was noted as a moderate conservative presenter at a three-day meeting organized by
Christian Identity Christian Identity (also known as Identity Christianity) is an interpretation of Christianity which advocates the belief that only Celtic and Germanic peoples, such as the Anglo-Saxon, Nordic nations, or Aryan people and people of kindred blood, ...
pastor Pete Peters in the wake of the
Ruby Ridge Ruby Ridge was the site of an eleven-day siege in 1992 in Boundary County, Idaho, near Naples. It began on August 21, when deputies of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) initiated action to apprehend and arrest Randy Weaver under a bench ...
incident. In the 1996 presidential election, Pratt served as a co-chairman of Pat Buchanan's campaign. In February 1996, the liberal
Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization whose stated mission is "to reveal abuses of power, corruption and dereliction of duty by powerful public and private institutions in order to ...
issued a report that claimed Pratt spoke at meetings organized by
white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
and
militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
leaders. As a result, Pratt resigned his position with the Buchanan campaign. In a Rolling Stone Magazine article, Larry Pratt is quoted defending his decision to speak to white supremacy groups. "I myself would also talk to white nationalists and neo-Nazi groups. I talk to liberal groups, but people don't accuse me of being liberal. I wash all that off at home. It's important to talk to anyone who will listen." Pratt also addressed delegates at the 1996 national convention of the U.S. Taxpayers Party (renamed the Constitution Party in 1999). In
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
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.


Political organizations

Pratt has founded a variety of organizations, including
English First (lobbying organization) English First is a lobbying organization for the English-only movement in the United States founded in Springfield, Virginia in 1986 by Larry Pratt. Further reading * * * * * * * * * * See also *Federation for American Immigration Reform ...
,
Gun Owners of America Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a gun rights organization in the United States. It makes efforts to differentiate itself from the larger National Rifle Association (NRA) and has publicly criticized the NRA on multiple occasions for what it consi ...
, U.S. Border Control, and Committee to Protect the Family. Pratt is the president of English First, an organization within the
English-only movement The English-only movement, also known as the Official English movement, is a political movement that advocates for the use of only the English language in official United States government operations through the establishment of English as the on ...
.Elain Shannon, et al.
"John Ashcroft's Dubious Pen Pal"
TIME; Thursday, Jan 11, 2001.
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. Pratt has served as a board member of the
American Legislative Exchange Council The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model legislation for distribution among state governments in the United State ...
. Pratt has also been listed as a member of the
Council for National Policy The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group for conservative and Republican activists in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian rig ...
(CNP). A January 13, 2001 article in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' explored Pratt's relationship with then-Attorney General nominee
John Ashcroft John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and former politician who served as the 79th U.S. Attorney General in the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2005. A former U.S. Senator from Missouri and the 50th ...
, stating they knew each other from the CNP. The January 11, 2001 edition of TIME Magazine included an article on Pratt and Ashcroft's relationship. 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.


Radio and television appearances

Pratt has appeared on numerous national radio and TV programs such as the ''
Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...
'', '' Good Morning America'', '' The Political Cesspool'', ''
Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. S ...
'', ''
Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...
'', ''
Hannity & Colmes ''Hannity & Colmes'' was a live television show on Fox News in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 7, 1996, and the final epi ...
'', ''
Piers Morgan Live ''Piers Morgan Live'' (formerly known as ''Piers Morgan Tonight'') was an American television talk show that was hosted by Piers Morgan and broadcast on CNN. The show premiered on January 17, 2011, and filled in the former ''Larry King Live'' ti ...
'' and ''
The Phil Donahue Show ''The Phil Donahue Show'', also known as ''Donahue'', is an American television talk show hosted by Phil Donahue that ran for 26 years on national television. Its run was preceded by three years of local broadcast on WLWD in Dayton, Ohio, and i ...
''. In reference to the
killing of Trayvon Martin On the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American boy. Zimmerman, a 28-year-old man of mixed race, was the neighborhood watch coordinator for his ...
, Pratt declared that Martin was at fault for not running away after knocking down
George Zimmerman George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black boy, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in '' Flori ...
, who was following Trayvon under suspicion "
artin Artin may refer to: * Artin (name), a surname and given name, including a list of people with the name ** Artin, a variant of Harutyun, an Armenian given name * 15378 Artin, a main-belt asteroid See also

{{disambiguation, surname ...
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 also noted that Martin was on top of Zimmerman after Zimmerman tried to make a "citizen's arrest" of Martin. The day after the
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, United States, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of the victims were children between six and seven years old, and t ...
, Pratt stated: "Gun control supporters have the blood of little children on their hands. Federal and state laws combined to ensure that no teacher, no administrator, no adult had a gun at the Newtown school where the children were murdered. This tragedy underscores the urgency of getting rid of gun bans in school zones. The only thing accomplished by gun free zones is to ensure that
mass murderers Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...
can slay more before they are finally confronted by someone with a gun." In May 2016, Pratt suggested that the loss of a conservative majority in the Supreme Court through a Democratic victory in the
2016 Presidential elections This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: K ...
might lead him and other gun owners to use violence in order to resist any judicial ruling supporting gun control, saying 'we may have to reassert that proper constitutional balance, and it may not be pretty. So, I’d much rather have an election where we solve this matter at the ballot box than have to resort to the bullet box.' In 2018, a segment with Pratt aired as part of
Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...
's Showtime series, '' Who is America?''. Pratt endorses “Kinderguardians,” a fake program to teach and arm schoolchildren as young as 3 to protect themselves in the classroom. In the segment, he can also be heard laughing at jokes made by Baron Cohen about shooting a praying Muslim man as well as marital rape. Pratt was also quoted as saying "Children under five also have elevated levels of the pheromone
Blink-182 Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has ...
, produced by the part of the liver known as the
Rita Ora Rita Sahatçiu Ora (born Rita Sahatçiu; 26 November 1990) is a British singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence in February 2012 when she featured on DJ Fresh's single, "Hot Right Now", which reached number one in the UK. Her debut stud ...
. This allows nerve reflexes to travel along the Cardi B neural pathway to the
Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...
40% faster, saving time and saving lives.”


Books

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


References


External links

*
Virginia House of Delegates: Member Bio


{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Larry 1942 births Living people American gun rights activists American anti-abortion activists American University School of Public Affairs alumni Virginia Constitutionalists Republican Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Nevada Libertarians Politicians from Camden, New Jersey People from Fairfax County, Virginia Activists from New Jersey Activists from Virginia 20th-century American politicians