I doubt many colonists had air guns as they were more expensive than flintlocks at that time.
That's what makes it so comical. Air rifles were a thing at the time, but were very expensive and highly unreliable. They were essentially only a niche hunting weapon so you could (sometimes) get off a second shot instead of spooking game with the first one.
They were actually very reliable and could shoot faster than a muzzleloader. Check out this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girardoni_air_rifle
"had a tubular, spring-fed magazine with a capacity of 20 balls." "With a full air reservoir, the Girardoni air rifle had the capacity to shoot 30 shots at useful pressure." They were quite awesome rifles but not cheap to make. Many places outlawed them because they could be used to poach game more easily due to the lack of noise when fired.
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