At the tale end of an article explaining why we are safe from GRBs:
"It seems that the very nature of the Milky Way precludes these dangerous explosions from going off in our galaxy, let alone anywhere near enough to obliterate us."
Comes the names of some scientists who believe we should be fearful of gamma-ray bursts:
Adrian Melott of the University of Kansas in Lawrence and Brian Thomas of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas - who warned of the dangers of GRBs - are not convinced that our galaxy is safe. Thomas points out that the Milky Way could merge with or swallow smaller, metal-poor galaxies suitable for GRBs.
Also, a study by Armen Atoyan of the University of Montreal in Canada and his colleagues, due to be published in The Astrophysical Journal, claims that a source of gamma rays in our galaxy, about 40,000 light years away, is a remnant of a GRB that went off about 10,000 to 20,000 years ago. Luckily it wasn't pointed at us, says Atoyan. "If he is right, it provides a counter argument," says Melott.
Stanek, however, argues that the source seen by Atoyan is more likely the leftovers of an unusually energetic supernova.
Merging with another galaxy, that might take a few years... but if a GRB (or unusually energetic supernova for that matter) has happened in our backyard, it can certainly happen again... at a moment's notice
