Over here in the U.K., and certainly in Scotland there are plenty of side by sides in daily use and that are being passed on to beginners. However they are all older guns.

When I was a kid in the 1980s the default for most new shooters was the AyA Yeoman, or the Gunmark Kestral. They were at a price point for a16 year old to afford after a summer working on a farm and a bit of help from grandparents. I can stil picture my new AYA yeaoman in its box.

Nowadays the cheapest side by side is a few thousand. Instead new shooters are buying over and under Berattas, ReVos, Rizzinis etc. Any number of these available new for sub 1,000, and in many case sub 700.

So new entrants are buying and using over and unders which is what they can buy and what the clay pigeon clubs / schools use as teaching guns.

I am sure its a fashion thing, and no reason why an affordable side by side cannot be made and marketed. Just nobody has.