A Loose Cannon

Question

Our three year old son, our middle child, is a bit of a loose cannon. He is verbally explosive when he gets frustrated, which is often. We have the ticket system set up for dealing with behaviors, and it has been helpful in dealing with bad behavior. He turns 4 in two weeks, and we hoped/thought that age and maturity would lead to greater verbal self control. It has not.
When he gets angry, it is not uncommon for him to yell something like "I'm going to kill you!" or "I'm going to hit you!" He speaks like this to us, to his brothers, and to friends in the neighborhood. He also responds to my husband and me with yelling often--for example, we tell him "it is time to wipe down the table and vacuum the floor" and he groans loudly and says "NO!" We let him know NO is not an option and that he needs to do the task anyway, and he does. When playing with his older brother and neighborhood friends (all older by several years), he has frequent fits of yelling and obvious frustration.
We aren't sure what to do. Should we treat these verbal explosions like behaviors and take tickets away? Do you think he will gain self control and that these behaviors will stop on their own? I've described him as being like a yo-yo. Once he starts going down, there is no stopping him. He has to hit bottom and come up on his own. We would love your suggestions on how to deal with him.

Thank you.

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