The story is mostly true except the senator was not a virulent antigun zealot. He was not a strong advocate of gun rights either, but the guy was hardly portrayed accurately.
Snopes is nothing but personal opinion of 2 left wingers.
This guy was into lots of questionable stuff. And he even looks like Sandusky, if you catch the parallel.
Do a search on him and look at the many stories put out by the local media in NC.
A short time before the shooting.........
http://www.wwaytv3.com/2009/12/30/year-review-controversy-plagues-sen-rc-soles