Many moons ago, the SASS Handbook stated something to the effect that, "... Cowboy Action Shooting is not for the beginning shooter, nor is it the place to learn about firearms/shooting."
Having come from other shooting disciplines and being very experienced, that aspect of the sport particularly attracted me. I envisioned a shooting discipline which was safe (by virtue of the experienced shooters), relatively competitive and FUN.
But the sport has grown exponentially over the years, and very often I've encountered new shooters who've never fired a round, bringing brand new guns to a match and competing.
Many clubs have become proactive to this by offering familiarization and qualification classes and courses, which I applaud.
In my opinion, Cowboy Action Shooting now has two phases: the "high school" of the sport, CAS... and the college level: Western Three Gun.
There is no reason that the SASS management should consider W3G anything OTHER than Cowboy Action Shooting.
It's simply the more advanced version.
As such, I find the question of "co-existence" to be non-existent. Both levels of the sport fall under the umbrella of "Cowboy Action Shooting".
Aside from the fact that SASS can't control the entire sport, what's its beef?
The only reason I can fathom boils down to SASS's fears that rev$$$$$enues will be lost.
I believe that if SASS got firmly behind Western Three Gun and helped promote it, not only would its sagging image be revived, but it would be monetarily advantageous to it in the long run.
BJ (musings over a scotch and cigar) D